King of the Sands
by SonofForossa
Summary: To rule the Cabal is to rule a volcano; really, REALLY freaking hard to do, and you're liable to be set on fire. *COMPLETE*
1. Chapter 1

The Master of the Sands

**Chapter 1: Why Do They Kneel?**

**Good Evening/Afternoon/Morning/Day everyone. I am SonofForossa, and I just read the talented RC927's In His Footsteps, as well as eagerly awaiting the next chapter of the sequel, Enemy of my Enemy. But you didn't click to read this to hear me gush about a good story, you came to read my story.**

**Let's go.**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

It was over. Valus Ta'aurc was dead, and Erik was his killer. The leader of the Cabal, the rulers of Mars, was slain. Of course, Erik was now surrounded by Cabal, but he was ready to go down fighting. His life for the Light, if need be.

What was he saying? He would live, he always lived. It was one of the perks of being a Guardian. You never stayed dead.

Erik was torn from his musings by a loud clanking. He refocused on the horde of Cabal in front of him, and noted they hadn't opened fire yet. Why was that? He saw them lower their weapons. Why?

Then they did something that really freaked him out. Even as more of them poured in through side doors, they formed one massive rectangle. There were two columns of Phalanxes forming the flanks, with twenty odd columns of Legionaries in between them.

Each column was one man wide and twenty deep, and thanks to Erik's incredible math skills, he knew that equated about two-hundred-eighty-eight soldiers. That wasn't even counting the twenty Colossi forming another to rows in the back (due to their being twice as big as the regular Cabal) and the fifty-odd Psion's forming two masses of about twenty-five on each side of the rectangle of soldiers.

Now that he had figured out their numbers, he had a new question; Why the hell weren't they shooting at him?

Then every Legionary placed their rifle on their hip, and slammed their right hand to their chestpiece. The Phalanxes mimicked this action, as the Colossi placed their massive Heavy-Slug-Guns on their backs and slammed both hands into their chests, crossing them at the forearm. The Psions placed their weapons on their hips as well, but they instead placed both hands together behind their backs.

"Umm…" Erik's Ghost, nicknamed Churchill after the famous leader, said. "That's a Cabal salute reserved for their leaders."

"Wait… they're saluting me?" Erik asked.

"Yes. They seem to be recognizing you as their leader." Churchill said.

Suddenly, the quiet that had come over the formation of Cabal was broken as three Centurions stepped out from the ranks, each bearing a different standard on their back. One bore a red and black sun, one was marked with a green and tan image of fanged mouth, and the Centurion in the centre wore a banner marked with a yellow and purple snake.

"What is your name?" The Cabal in the center asked, in surprisingly good English. His voice was different from the deep, gruff tone typical of the Cabal, sounding almost Baritone.

"I am Erik." Erik replied.

"_Arth Hadden Eric Ta'aurc, Lideren Dun Cabal!_" The Cabal roared.

He was replied to with a universal cry of "_Hadden Dun Ta'aurc Erik!_" from the arrayed Cabal warriors, as they punched their right fist towards the roof. "_Hadden Dun Marchall_"

"What are they saying?" Erik asked.

"Using my limited understanding of the Cabals chosen dialect, they seem to be saying 'Hail The Leader Erik, Hail The General." Churchill responded. "It would seem they think you are in command of them now."

"Indeed we do, _Phandok_." The lead Cabal spoke again. "Erik Ta'aurc has defeated our former leader in honourable battle, overcoming the odds against him despite his being outnumbered. He is now _Marchall_, or general in your tongue."

"You know I am called a Ghost?" Churchill asked, tilting slightly in the air, which Erik knew meant he was confused.

"We know many things about you Guardians, _Phandok_. We have been studying your kind for years. To know not your enemy is suicide." The Cabal replied, the last line sounding like a quote from a book.

"So… I'm in charge of the forces here?" Erik asked, butting into the conversation.

"Yes, Ta'aurc. Not just the forces arrayed here, but all Cabal in this system." The Cabal bearing the green and tan banner replied. "That is how it has been for centuries."

"How what has been done for centuries?"

"The selection of our _Marchall_. He who defeats the previous _Marchall _in honourable combat takes the position of Ta'aurc, and becomes our new leader. This is the first time we have been led by a human, but it was not entirely unexpected for a different race to take the helm."

Erik was practically speechless. He, through the act of killing a single target, had just taken command of the entirety of the Cabal on Mars. His heart raced and his mind went into overdrive as he tried to comprehend this rush of new information. Him, leading the Cabal. Leading an army of the Darkness. The possibilities this presented! But this would be tough, definitely. This would be very tough.

"Well then… Churchill, can you use my helmet to translate my speech to the Cabals language?" He asked, looking at the floating white machine.

"Of course. Give me moment… there!" Churchill had faded back into his armour systems.

"Here goes nothing…" Erik muttered, before speaking in a much louder tone. "Cabal! Today, I have defeated Valus Ta'aurc! I have taken command of the mighty Cabal Legions, and all will obey me. I have no doubts some of you are unhappy with this turn of events, that you do not think a human can lead you!" A few Cabal seemed to shuffle and murmur at that, no doubt being the ones who thought such a thing was true.

"However, I assure you; my victory here was no mistake! I have won through strength, and intelligence! I will lead you into a new age! An age of prosperity, an age of victory! After years of suffering defeat at the hands of the Vex, after years of being forced to further entrench ourselves into the red Martian sands, we will break free!"

"We will retake Mars, make it ours again! We will drive them from their home on Venus, and destroy the Hive present on the moon!" Erik paused to let his words sink in. Thankfully, all of the assembled Cabal seemed to be enraptured by his speech.

"But we will not do this alone!" This was met with gasps of shock and murmurs of disgruntled soldiers. "We will ally ourselves with the protectors of Earth, with the Awoken Queen of the Reef! We will make our alliances and strike the presence of the Hive and Vex, possibly even the Fallen from this system! Mars will be ours, Earth and its moon will belong to humanity and their Exo allies, to avoid needless bloodshed. The Cabal will be strong once more!" He roared, and the voices of over three-hundred Cabal answered his roar with one of their own.

He grinned beneath his helmet. He had them. Now he had to keep them.

One of the Phalanxes had begun a chant of "_Fer Dun Cabal! Fer Victa!_" and it spread with rapid speed throughout the ranks.

"Fer Dun Cabal! Fer Victa!" He roared along with them, and miles away, the Vex forces marshaled around the entrance to the Black Garden heard the noise. And had they been able to, they would have trembled in fear.

Erik kept grinning the whole time. A new age was coming, and it would be GLORIOUS.

**()()()()()**

"So, will it still move?"

Erik was currently sitting in his new command throne, formerly belonging to one Valus Ta'aurc, who was now dead. The throne was obviously built for someone a lot bigger, and he felt small in it. But it was a symbol of his leadership, and further cemented his new position amidst the Cabal.

"It will, _Marchall_. Your new fortress will move. I simply do not understand why it must." The replier was one Kallus Ta'aurc, one of the three Centurions Erik had promoted to the position of lieutenant after he had been forced to kill the previous four.

It had been one week since his commandeering of the Cabal, and most of that had been spent alerting units of the changes in leadership.

"This location has been compromised, and more of my kind will arrive soon. I want to avoid any additional casualties for as long as possible." Erik replied. "We will move into the Scablands, and fortify there."

"Of course, _Marchall. _Do you still wish to contact our orbital fleet?" Kallus asked.

"Yes. I want them to allow Guardians through the blockade, but no one else." Erik said. "No more shooting down ships unless they open fire first."

"Yes, sir. We will alert _Admirallen _Kornick immediately." Kallus said, saluting. "Will that be all?"

"Not quite. I want you to tell the Admiral to prepare a frigate and a small escort for flight to Earth. The sooner we begin negotiations with the Last City, the better." Erik added. "Tell him to have them ready by the end of the cycle. We will set out tomorrow."

"_Marchall_!" One of the Legionaries manning the primary comms called. "We have reports of a unit under attack by Guardian forces!"

"Damn it! Kallus, prepare a dropship and a squad of Legionaries." Erik said, rising from his throne. "I'm going to deal with this personally."

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**So, that's it for Chapter 1. Hope you people liked it, and now be ready as I engage in one of the most popular elements of Destiny Fanfiction (or so it seems), OC applications! Basically, I can come up with good characters. But I bet you people can too. And I do like diversifying my cast. So, here's the template;**

**Name:**

**Age:**

**Race:**

**Class and Subclass (Bladedancer, Voidwalker, etc.):**

**Appearance: (Skin/chassis colour, eye colour, hair colour, scars, ets.):**

**Quick Bio: (At least three sentences):**

**Personality: (At least three sentences, and detailed ones at that. No; so and so likes fish. He hates rabbits. He loves guns.):**

**Now go forth, and create something worth a damn that I can use to make the story better. Or make a joke character. They won't be used, but I may drop a reference to them or something like that.**

**Have a lovely day/night!**


	2. Chapter 2

King of the Sands

**Chapter 2: Hold Your Fire!**

**Well, here we go. Another chapter of King of the Sands, and this one will hopefully hold a bit more action than last time. And by that I mean; THEY WILL DIE IN DROVES! YES, BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GO… THE HELL DO YOU MEAN THAT'S THE WRONG UNIVERSE?**

**HUH. I'M JUST GONNA GO READ A BOOK QUIETLY THEN.**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Erik had always wondered what the inside of a Cabal dropship looked like. They were huge, so it couldn't be comfortable, could it? Apparently he was wrong. There were large harnesses, Cabal and Psion sized, respectively, that the soldiers would sit in. Once they reached the drop zone, the doors set in the bottom of the ship would open, and they would leap out, activating jump-jets to soften their landing. First out would be the Phalanxes, then the Legionaries, and if necessary, Psions would drop in after the other two. Colossi were always out last, mostly to avoid damaging the drop zone.

"_Marchall_, we are nearing the objective. Should I bombard the target first?" The Psion pilot said over the comms. Churchill had installed the translator permanently into his helmet, so knowing what they were saying and replying were no longer big issues.

"No. I don't want to appear hostile right away. I will approach the Guardian and attempt to talk him down. Only if I request it should you begin any sort of attack. That goes for all of you." Erik replied, broadcasting on all comms.

A chorus of affirming statements swept through the comms in return, and Erik returned to his musing.

If the Cabal they were answering the distress call of were dead, would his squad be thirsty for revenge? They did seem very protective of each other, especially the higher ranks. Squadmates were like brothers, units were like extended families. That never made for easy negotiation.

Then again, they would be bound by law to obey Erik, so he could probably make them stand down. But would they? If they were angry enough, would they stand down just because he said to?

And what about the Guardian/Guardians he would be talking to. What would he say? 'Hey, so I know these guys are our sworn enemies, but I'm in charge of them now, so it's all cool.' Yeah, because that would work.

Erik was actually confused by how much he cared about his new army. He may have spent most of his life trying to kill as many of them as possible, but he couldn't help but feel some sense of duty when he saw them. Maybe it was because they, in a week, had been nicer to him than humanity and the Awoken and everyone else had been in two separate lifetimes. Did he prefer the company of Cabal to his own kind? So far, it certainly felt like it.

He was torn from his musings by the crackling of his comm unit.

"_Marchall_, we have arrived. I trust you will want to be first out?" The pilot asked, as Erik's harness opened and the doors at his feet slid open.

"Yes. Everyone, stay behind me, and DO NOT engage the Guardians until I say otherwise." Erik ordered, before leaping out of the door.

He activated his jump boosters just before striking the ground, ceasing his momentum and allowing him to land on his feet almost gracefully. He heard gun and slug fire, so he knew he was in the right spot. He looked around and saw the bunker that had radioed for help under attack by a three man squad of Guardians. There was the classical mix of Titan, Hunter and Warlock. He was more concerned with the state of his own troops however.

Erik saw at least three dead Legionaries, and their Centurion lay bleeding from several bullet holes to the chest, but he wasn't dead, as was evident by his shuffling away from the Titan, who was in the midst of beating the ever-living crap out of another Legionary, who was desperately trying to crawl away. However, both of his knees had been shot out with a sniper rifle, and the Titan and Warlock laughed as they exchanged turns striking the Legionary with fists, boots and bullets. The Legionary was already missing several fingers and his right thumb.

Blood rushed through Erik's ears and tinted his vision red. He was enraged. How dare these bastards torment his soldiers. The last Legionary sat with his back to a wall, a throwing knife pinning his hand to the side. The Guardians had pulled off his helmet, and the soldier was choking from a lack of air and Cabal Juice. The helmet lay just out of his reach, as the Legionary scrabbled weakly with his free hand, trying to reach it.

Erik kept his calm, walking slowly up to the Legionary missing his helmet and handing it to him, before wrenching the knife from the soldier's hand. The soldier sat there, gasping in air and sobbing. He turned and saw an astonished Hunter standing before him, sniper rifle in his hands. Erik ran some quick calculations. That rifle fired the caliber of bullet that had blasted off the crawling Legionaries legs.

The Hunter went to raise his rifle, but Erik grabbed the barrel and tore it from the Guardians hand, cracking his right fist into the Hunters jaw simultaneously. The Hunter spun away, falling to the ground with a heavy 'THUD'.

The Cabal that had been in the Dropship had leapt out after him and ran to him, one of the Legionaries kneeling in front of the still gasping trooper, and grabbing him by the shoulders, pulling him back towards the Dropship.

The other two Guardians were still blasting bits off of and breaking parts of the second Legionary, who was laying inert on the ground at this point, evidently barely alive.

"This one's nearly finished, Kayla. Kill him and let's start on the Centurion. Whaddya say, Kale?" The Warlock said, beginning to turn.

The Warlock turned at precisely the same time Erik drew his Hand Cannon, his trusty TFWPKY 1969. When the Warlock turned, he found himself staring down the barrel of a purple and red revolver. Naturally, he was dually surprised and displeased by this turn of events.

"HOLY SHIT! WHERE THE HELL DID YOU COME FROM?" The Warlock yelled, backing up and nearly tripping over the fallen Legionary, had Erik not grabbed him.

"The Imperial Land Tank '_Dun Marchalls Gaunt'_. I am Erik Ta'aurc, and these are MY soldiers you're torturing." Erik said, his voice brimming with hostility as he held the Warlock by the collar of his robes.

"What the fuck? You're in charge of the Cabal? Bullshit!" The Warlock said. "What the hell's the matter with you? Why're you so pissed by me hurting these savages?"

Eriks fist struck him in the gut so hard his lower body leapt almost a foot in the air. "As I said, you are torturing MY men. Is this how they run things back on the Tower now? I've only been gone a week, and this is what happens?" He snarled, as the Warlock gasped for air. "Teirok!"

"Yes, _Marchall_?" The Centurion asked. "What is it you re-"

His answer was cut off as several bullets struck and broke his shield, forcing him to find cover. One of the Legionaries was struck by a stray Auto Rifle round, and fell backwards as a mixture of Cabal Juice and brackish dark blue blood spewed from the hole in his throat.

Erik threw the Warlock back, disregarding the man's safety as he slammed into a wall. He fired TFWPKY one handed, throwing the Auto Rifle out of the Titans hands as he fired again, the next bullet striking the Titan in the shoulder. He charged forwards, slamming his shoulder into the now identifiably female Titans torso and throwing her back several feet, before turning and firing once more, this bullet knocking the fusion rifle in the Warlocks hand across the red Martian sands.

"WHAT THE FUCK!" The Titan screamed, as she found herself pinned to the ground by a far larger Titan who seemingly had the Cabal's best interests in mind. "GET OFF OF ME!"

"No." And with that, Erik hammered his fist into the woman's helmet, bouncing her head off the concrete floor of the bunker over and over again, until there was a sizable dent in the back of the helmet and she was dead to the world.

He turned to find two Legionaries holding the Warlock up, one arm per Legionary.

"Now then, about why you're torturing my men…" Erik said, his voice sounding dually menacing and pleasant

"Why the hell do you care?" The Warlock asked. "Aren't you a Guardian too?"

"Yes, at least I was. Though if this is what Guardians do now, I'm afraid I may just leave." Erik answered, pretending to inspect his hand. "After all, if Guardians are allowed to torture injured enemies…"

"Who cares? They're the ENEMY!" The Warlock yelled.

Erik nodded at one of the Legionaries, who proceeded to snap the Warlocks right arm like a twig. Erik almost winced as the arm was bent at an almost ninety-degree angle in the wrong direction. The Warlock's reaction was a bit less subtle.

"GAAAAHHHH!" The Warlock screamed, his voice filled with pain.

"Not any more. Tell me something, did the Cabal open fire the moment they saw you?" Erik asked.

"Th-they didn't, no. But I thought they were just crazy." The Warlock answered, breathing heavily and stuttering.

"So, because they were crazy, you thought it would be okay to torment them before killing them?" Erik asked, posing the statement like a casual question, as though he were requesting the time.

"What do you mean? We always do thi…" The Warlock trailed off, realizing he had said the wrong thing.

Erik scowled, drawing and firing TFWPKY in a single fluid motion, shooting the Warlock square in the wrist of the arm that hadn't been broken. The Warlock jerked and screamed again, a sound that Erik was, disturbingly, liking more and more as he got to know the man better. Erik fired again, this time striking the Warlock in the knee, drawing another scream out of him. The last bullet struck the man directly between the eyes, killing him instantly.

"Ready the Dropship and load the wounded aboard, as well as calling another one to pick us up. I need to have a long talk with the Vanguard back on Earth…" Erik said, turning away from the now dead Warlock. "And throw this trash out."

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Well, that actually made me feel disgust from just writing it. Seriously, when I want to write despicable characters, I go full freaking force.**

**On the topic of OC's, however, I have a little something to add. If you want your OC to be included, please be sure it is only a Guardian. I may ask for Cabal OC's later on, but I already have the main Cabal characters mapped out in my head.**

**Have a nice day/night!**


	3. Chapter 3

King of the Sands

**Chapter 3: Let Us Parley…**

**Well, I have a proposition to make. (Yeah, the title is some double-meaning-inception crap. Get on my writing level, scrubs.) Basically, I'm still in school, which means I have a lot less time to work on this than I would like. However, if I maintain the current chapter size of about 1.5K words per chapter, I could manage an update every couple of days.**

**Alternatively, I could increase (probably double) the chapter size, and delay updates to being more spread out. This may sound good, until I realize that if I try to space-out chapters, I have a tendency to not write anything.**

**So, which would you people prefer? Shorter, more regular updates, or more spread out longer ones? Let me know, and I'll make the decision based on what you and others say.**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

_Erik was surrounded._

_There were Fallen all around him, blades and guns leveled at him, but none had dared pull the trigger, and for good reason. Erik was surrounded by a shimmering dome of purple energy, that halted any projectile fired at it. And he wasn't alone inside._

_There was another person with him, another Titan, this one clad in green armour. Alice, his partner for almost a year. They had come here seeking to take out the Archon Priest of the Fallen House of Winter, but found themselves pinned by the sheer number of enemies around them._

_Already the shield was failing, but Erik was ready for when it cut out. Using the Orbs of Light Alice's shield had generated, he was ready to call upon his ace-in-the-hole, Fist of Havoc. The power to wipe out all who opposed him in one fell swoop._

_The shield flickered once more, then died. Erik leapt into the air, fists raised above his head, as Alice opened up with her machine gun. He came crashing down to the ground, hammering his fists into the dirt and sending out a shockwave of energy that disintegrated all it touched. Fallen screamed as they were thrown into the air, slowly turning to energy, and even the mighty Archon Priest was thrown backwards. _

_Then he rose, and hammered a fist into Eriks chest. The punch felt like getting run-over by an angry rhinoceros, and Erik was tossed into the air, only to come crashing down, crying out when something in him snapped with a loud 'CRACK'. He lay there stunned, as the Archon Priest closed in, laughing in a deep, booming voice that shook Erik to the core. _

_Then Alice, seeming to materialize from nowhere, slammed into him shoulder first, throwing the Priest to the side. Erik took this as an opportunity to stand, only to fall back to his knees. He couldn't rise. The Archon Priest rose from the ground and lashed out, sending Alice spinning away, before stalking over to her slowly, laughing once more. Erik grabbed at his Hand Cannon, feeling it laying in the dirt beside him._

_He took aim, squinting down the sights, only to curse loudly when it was kicked out of his hand. He turned and saw the culprit, a Vandal armed with twin swords, standing over him, weapons held over its head. He grabbed at its ankle, wrong footing it and sending it plummeting to the ground. He climbed on top of it, pinning it to the floor, and bashed his fist into its skull, hearing a sound like crinkling paper as its helmets faceplate cracked. He punched again and again until the hand was little more than gravy, and turned around._

_The Archon Priest was standing with Alice's Ghost, Elizabeth, in his hand, clenched in a three-fingered fist. His grip tightened and Erik heard Alice cry out as its shell cracked and finally gave in, leaving the complex little machine little more than a pile of circuits and splinters of armour plating. Then it picked up Alice with its other hand, three bone-white fingers wrapping around her neck as it reached up with a third arm and grabbed the top of her head. _

_The Priest seemed to be enamored with Alice's face as it pulled off her helmet, before grabbing her by the chin and quickly, almost gracefully, snapped her head at an unnatural angle to the right, then to the left, a loud cracking filling the air._

_Erik's heart raced, pumping blood through his ears as it roared and his vision turned red. Alice was dead. He conjured Churchill in his hand, and summoned his Sparrow, hopping on and kicking the throttle to full. He felt it reach maximum velocity in less than a second. _

_The Archon Priest turned just time to be struck in the chest with a Cavalier-22 pattern Sparrow, the sheer force of the impact throwing him over the edge of the chasm he stood on. Erik leapt off at the last second, the momentum throwing him after his vehicle and the Priest, as the two fell over the edge. Erik grabbed at the ground, stopping just before the chasm. He turned and looked to see the Archon Priest tumbling to his death, roaring as he fell, before striking a rock rising from the river at the bottom and being impaled through the stomach. He bellowed in pain as Erik turned away, sprinting to Alice's side._

_He fell to his knees, grabbing her in a firemans carry, holding her tilted upwards as her head lolled to the side. She still drew shaky, shallow breaths, barely sustaining her, and even those were fading. He leaned in close as she moved her lips, hearing the slightest whisper escaping from her._

"_Er-Erik… d-did we win?" She asked, tears rushing to her eyes._

"_We… we did. He's dead." Erik said, his eyes tearing up. "Hold on! I'll get us back to the Tower!"_

"_N-No… I'm not gonna recover. H-he k-k-killed Eliza…" Alice whispered. "I'm finished…"_

"_N-No! You can't just give up!" Erik said. "You need to hold on!"_

"_Erik… I love you…" Alice whispered, her voice little more than a whisper. "R-remember me…"_

"_I… I will." Erik said._

_And with that, Alice's breath ceased to be, her pulse stopped, and she died._

()()

Erik bolted upright, his topless form covered in cold sweat as the blankets fell from his body, revealing his muscled torso and arms. He was gasping and his eyes were teary. He closed them, scrunching them shut as he tried to push the memories out of his head.

It had been a while since he had had that dream, that nightmare. He hated it every time. It was like watching some sort of slideshow of his failures. There was no other way to put it. He had failed Alice that day. Had he been a little faster, a little stronger, a little braver, he could have saved her.

'_Remember me.' _He had. He just wished he didn't.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Well, that's another chapter, and while it was a fair bit shorter than usual, hopefully that sheds a little more light on our hero. **

**Have a good day/night**


	4. Chapter 4

King of the Sands

**Chapter 4: Negotiations**

**Well, after a disappointing lack of reviews for Chapter 3, here we are with Chapter 4, a bigger, more meaty update than Chapter 3's light and fluffy background story. It's like comparing a big juicy steak with a little sweet mousse. **

**(I'm really hungry right now.)**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Warlock Allasandra, clad in her orange Scalpel Wing pattern robes and armour, was very angry. Tendrils of her bluish-purple hair flew around her head as she paced around the room, occasionally shooting dirty looks at the Awoken Hunter who sat in the corner, who had a very sheepish and guilty expression on his face.

"So now you're back, WITHOUT getting the samples, and Josh is stuck in the hospital with both arms broken and his leg having been snapped in half, all because you saw a chest?!" She asked, her voice filled with menace.

"Ummm… the chest was golden." The Hunter offered, blushing and turning his face an even darker shade of purple.

"THAT'S NOT A REASON!" Alassandra screamed, her face turning a darker shade of purple as well, though in her case it was due to rage rather than some level of embarrassment.

"Well… I got a better gun, and a load of Spinmetal!" The Hunter said frantically.

"Oh, that's great. Europa's got the Exo equivalent of brain damage, but you got some Spinmetal, so it's aallll good." Alassandra said sarcastically rolling her eyes.

Then, all throughout the Tower, home to the Guardians, alarm klaxons started blaring.

"What the hell…?" The Hunter said, rising from his chair.

"That's the primary alarm! It means something's trying to land on the tower!" Allasandra said.

"I'm going to presume something we don't WANT to land on the Tower?" The Hunter said, as his Scout Rifle materialized in his hand.

"Yeah, usually. Come on, we need to get up top!" Allasandra said, as her own favoured shotgun appeared in her hand.

They rushed past several very confused younger Guardians, likely still in basic training, as they headed to the top floor of the tower from their apartments below. They were joined by at least a dozen other Guardians, all of whom were carrying guns of one type or another. One Titan was even carrying a rocket launcher.

As they burst out into the harsh mid-July sun, their eyes adjusted to see a single Cabal dropship opening up and deploying its contents. The first thing out, to the surprise of everyone present, was a Titan wearing full Justicar armour and carrying a purple and red hand cannon, that most of the people attending recognized.

"By the Traveler…" Allesandra overheard one Titan mutter as the Guardian landed, with two Cabal Phalanxes landing just behind him. Both of them were even bigger than a standard Phalanx, with armour and shield coloured gold and red. This drew a cacophony of clacking as weapons were primed and safeties were pulled.

Then, to everyone's furthered surprise, the twin Phalanxes reacted by stepping next to the Titan and shielding him with their bodies and shields. One of them growled in the Cabal tongue at a Hunter who was taking aim with his sniper rifle and raised his slug gun, but the Titan placed his arm on the Cabals vambrace.

"Hold your fire please, Akanda. I don't want to appear too hostile." The Titan said, before stepping forwards, raising his arms in an embracing gesture.

"Friends!" He called, his voice booming across the otherwise quiet Tower. "I come to you today with good tidings!"

"And what would those be, Guardian?" The Vanguard Warlock leader, Ikora Ray, asked, her shotgun still leveled at the new arrival.

"Tidings of peace, Ikora! Peace and opportunity, though the second may take a little longer to reach." The Titan answered, taking a step towards the dark-skinned warlock.

"What is this about, Titan?" Vanguard Commander Zavala asked, staring at the two Cabal with a look of disbelief on his face. "Why have you brought Cabal to the Tower?"

"Well, Zavala, as I told the Guardians on Mars whom I had the displeasure of meeting, these aren't just any Cabal. These are MY Cabal." The Titan said, removing his helmet.

Allesandra raised an eyebrow when the helmet came off, revealing a human face, surprisingly young looking. He couldn't have been over thirty years old. He had a worryingly large scar running across his face, starting just under his left eye and cutting across his face to his right jaw, where it twisted right slightly. To be honest, the scar made him look almost roguish, though Allesandra would never say it out loud. His eyes were also a subject of fascination, being the darkest blue she had ever seen.

His dirty blonde hair was cropped close to his scalp, and he was completely clean shaven, a feature universal for most Titans. Didn't want a beard to get caught in your helmet apparently. He also had a massive grin across his face. It was evident he was having a lot of fun with this.

"Erik?" Allesandra heard Zavala remark. "I thought… we thought…"

"I was still in a depressive slump? Hah! Fat chance!" Erik laughed. "I headed to Mars over a month ago, and started picking off the Cabal command structure. At least, that was the plan. Then I became their general."

"How in the Travelers name did you manage that?" Zavala asked, and Allesandra had to agree with the question. This situation was getting more and more surreal as it unfolded. A lost Guardian returning as the leader of the Cabal? What?

"Well, it's a long story, but to make it as brief as possible; I killed off their general, Valus Ta'aurc, and all his lieutenants, and that made me _Marchall_, or General, by right of conquest." The Titan explained. "I spent a week getting everything organized, then elected to head straight for Earth, mostly to have a talk with the Speaker on the possibilities of a peace treaty."

There were lots of gasps at that, as well as various other expressions of surprise. Allesandra could scarcely believe it herself! Peace? With the Cabal? Was such a thing even possible? They had been at war for so long…

"Hmmm… very well. Given the fact the Cabal have yet to attack, I can believe you're telling us the truth. Cayde, go get the Speaker." Zavala said. "But take two of my Titans with you."

The Exo Hunter Vanguard left wordlessly, two Titans in with Machine Guns following him. Zavala turned back to look at Erik.

"Erik, if this is a trick, I swear on the Traveler I will kill you myself." Zavala said.

"If you think you could kill Akanda and Bereus first, I welcome you to try." Erik replied, somehow sounding smug and polite at the same time.

Allesandras gaze switched to the twin Phalanxes, who at this point she had no doubt were some sort of bodyguards. Both of them certainly looked the part, at least. She could hear Eron muttering about weak-points and armour chinks.

"Eron, stop it." She said, turning to the Hunter. "Muttering about killing them isn't going to calm your nerves."

"I know, it's just… they can't be serious! A peace treaty? With the CABAL? With the Fallen, maybe. But Cabal? They slaughtered us in the hundreds while invading Mars!" Eron said.

"And how many of them did WE slaughter while they invaded Mars?" Allisandra countered.

"But… but…" Eron stuttered. "They are an army of the Darkness, something we were created to fight!"

"Something we were created to fight, yes, but who is to say they still follow the Darkness? They accepted a Guardian as their leader just fine." Allisandra said.

Eron didn't reply to that. He was too busy watching as the Speaker himself strode through the central plaza, two Titans walking just behind him, weapons out and ready to fire if need be. Allisandra hoped it wouldn't.

"Hail, Erik, leader of the Cabal." The Speaker said, bowing slightly.

"And hail, Speaker, voice of the Traveler." Erik replied, bowing back, his bodyguards mimicking the action.

"Tell me Guardian, why is it you seek a peace treaty?" The Speaker asked, gesturing to the Phalanx bodyguards. "You could have just as easily invaded Earth."

"I have no desire for more power, and the less blood spilled pointlessly, the better. I learned that the hard way on Venus." Erik said, the last part little more than a whisper.

"Ah, so you seek to lead the Cabal to an era of peace?" The Speaker asked.

"That is my ultimate goal, yes. The Cabal are on the back foot, to be honest. The Vex outnumber us, and despite the fact one Legionary is worth several Goblins, the fact Mars is literally a Vex breeding ground doesn't help matters much." Erik said. "But if Guardians and Cabal were to work together, we could destroy the Vex at their source."

"You speak of the Black Garden." The Speaker replied.

"Yes. I know you are planning on attacking it. Hell, I was planning and trying to go in solo if I needed to." Erik admitted.

"So now you come to us, offering peace and the opportunity to strike back against the greatest force the Darkness has, and all you want in return is…?" The Speaker intoned the statement as a question.

"Mars." Erik replied. "I want to keep Mars."

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Well, that's another chapter done. The negotiations have begun, and the world is going to change forever because of it and all that.**

Erik walked into the primary landing bay of '_Dun Admirallens Gaunt_', clad in full armour except for his helmet. The Psion pilots and his own Cabal Honour Guard were rushing about in a fashion similar to chickens that lacked their heads.


	5. Chapter 5

King of the Sands

**Chapter 5: Dissidence**

**Well… I'm back! Long story short; my friend dropped my laptop, and it broke. Luckily, another friend of mine is good with computers, and managed to repair it. It took a while, but I didn't have to pay a cent for it, and it works even better! **

**Anyhow, welcome back to King of the Sands.**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Three weeks. Three bloody weeks later, and now they had an answer. Now they would reply.

And Erik had questioned the Cabal's love of Military Dictatorship. At least he had the power to make a decision without every other person of relative power being able to drag him into a debate and criticism. That was probably a good thing, especially considering Erik had loads of experience with war. He had been a soldier in his past life, after all.

He stood in the Speakers chambers. The massive array of circles and energy in the centre of the room was distracting, but only Kandra, one of his bodyguards, was currently looking at it. Very intently.

"_Marchall_, I fear that… thing, is some sort of weapon." The extra-large Phalanx muttered to him, his shield held at ready.

"Don't be a _Fullner_, Kandra. It's obviously just some kind of sensor," His other bodyguard, Akanda, answered. "Besides, the _Marchall_ is perfectly safe with us."

"Calm down, both of you," Erik said. "And observe how to negotiate."

The three Vanguard leaders had stepped to attention, along with the twelve-odd Guardians present, as the Speaker stepped down the stairs from his balcony-observation-post-pedestal-thing and stepped into a position roughly ten feet from Erik. Erik's own bodyguard, Akanda and Kandra, as well as a Collossus named Brikk and a small squad of Legionaries, all stepped to attention as he took several steps forwards.

Erik's honour guard had almost been refused a position in the proceedings, but they had refused to let him enter 'enemy territory' without something to keep him alive. He would have argued that he was perfectly capable of protecting himself, but he couldn't help but admire the almost zealotry the Cabal behaved with when it came to defending him.

"Now then, we have looked over the conditions of the Cabal-Last City Treaty," The Speaker began. "And are willing to accept the current system."

Erik raised an eyebrow. He had been expecting a bit more haggling, to be honest.

"Very well. The men and women of the Cabal will be guaranteed safety from Guardian patrols, and any Guardians on Mars will be allowed safe passage, as well as aid in the event of a Vex attack." Erik said. "Cabal forces will be transmitted this order in approximately twenty-four hours."

"In return, the Cabal will maintain possession of Mars and its moons, as well as military aid against the Vex on Mars." The Speaker said, and several Guardians quietly voiced their disgruntlement with the choice. "However, we will be allowed to scavenge the remnants of any technology in Freehold." Several Warlocks seemed to perk up at this news.

"Well, that's that! Anybody happen to have a drop?" Erik asked, looking at the gathered Guardians. He was met with confused silence. "Oh well. Drinks are on me at the bar!"

And with that, he turned and left, leading a convoy of cheering Guardians and leaving a very confused Vanguard standing in an empty room.

"Did that just… happen?" Warlock Vanguard Ikora Rey asked, looking at her fellow Vanguard for answers.

"Seems it did. Well, he offered free drinks. Cayde?" Commander Zavala said, looking at the Hunter Vanguard.

"I say we take him up on that offer." The Exo Hunter replied, heading for the bar.

**()()()()()**

"…And then they started marching out. Over three-hundred Cabal, all organized in a square in front of me. I'm starting to panic, wondering how I'm gonna kill that many enemies, when they all start saluting." Erik was telling the tale of his impromptu coronation to a group of spellbound Guardians ranging from veterans to new recruits. "Then three of 'em with fancy banners march out and start calling me _Marchall_, Cabal Tongue for General, and the soldiers start bellowing and cheering."

"Why'd they choose you?" Mark, a Human Titan, asked, taking a swig from a hip flask of some unnamed alcohol.

"It's apparently an age-old tradition of theirs. Whoever kills the previous _Marchall _and his command staff gets to take command." Erik explained. "I just happened to be the first _Humaka _to pull it off."

"What the hell's a 'Humaka'?" Mark asked.

"More Cabal Tongue. It means Human." Erik answered. "Humans are _Humaka_, Awoken are _Akenda_, and Exo's are _Marn Matra_, literally 'Men of Metal."

"How much of their language have you learned so far?" Allasandra, an Awoken Warlock, asked. "You're basically the first person to have extended friendly contact with them ever."

"Mostly basic stuff. Numbers, simple names and designations, and the five 'W' questions." Erik answered. "_Und, Zeir, Tril, Forn, Vund, Sien, Sevra, Aigit, Ninas, Thron_."

"What was that?" Mark asked.

"I counted to ten. The Cabal language is really guttural, with lots of hard sounds." Erik replied.

"Fascinating." Allasandra said, sounding only partially conscious. Her companion, an Awoken Hunter, swept in and grabbed her as she started to fall over.

"She's had a bit too much to drink. I'll get her back to her room." The man said, carrying the unconscious girl out.

"Alrighty then." Erik said, before turning back to his audience. "Any more questions?"

**()()(Several Days Later)()()**

Silence.

Berrik, a Legionary with an easy future as a Centurion, was running his regular patrol route on the edge of the Scablands, searching for the usual threat. Large groups of Vex. Guardians had been removed from the list, which left him with little to look for except glowing robots hell-bent on destroying all life in existence.

He sighed quietly, muttering beneath his breath about how bored he was, until he saw it. A shadow, seemingly, but one moving of its own volition. It darted into another pool of shadows, seemingly disappearing, until it reappeared, dashing to another shadow. He knew it must be a Guardian, for when did the Vex ever sneak around, and called out.

"Guardian!" He bellowed. "Step out of the shadows and…"

A throwing knife buried itself in his throat, and his request was cut short. The figure that emerged to remove the knife was one of an Exo Hunter. Not the most famous of Exo Hunters, but an infamous one. The master assassin simply known as Smoke. He pulled the knife from the dead Cabals throat and wiped the blood off on his cloak, adding another streak of red to the dark green of his cloak.

Then he stepped back into the shadows, and disappeared from sight, leaving naught but a corpse to tell the tale of what had happened on the red sands of Mars that night.

And dead men tell no tales. Supposedly.

**(((Several hours later…)))**

"Where was this found?" Erik asked, turning away from the main screen aboard '_Dun Marchalls Gaunt_'. Frozen on the screen was the image of an Exo, kept in the shadows by a large hood. Barely visible were two ice blue eye lenses glowing from beneath the suffocating darkness.

"This was a backup transmission from a troopers helmet recorder, delivered to us upon death." Derrith Ta'aurc said. He was the Cabals head of intelligence, apparently, though he was usually moving amidst the lower decks of the Land Tank.

"It's designed to transmit upon death?" Erik asked. "Clever. Anyhow, it looks like someone is disobeying the truce."

"Indeed, _Marchall_. It is likely YOU are the target." Derrith replied.

"Of course, that's just my luck." Erik said, stroking his chin. "And if my hunch as to who this is turns out to be correct, there's no point in placing more guards. This looks like Smoke's handiwork."

"Who is this 'Smoke'?"

"Smoke's a bounty hunter-stroke-assassin for hire. If you want someone dead, you hire him. He's ruthless, efficient, and one-hundred percent deadly. Usually, of course."

"Why would placing more guard's not help?"

"Because I want to lure him into a one-on-one confrontation, and I don't want to risk anyone else's lives."

"Sir, with all due respect, you can't be serious!"

"I am, Therrin. If I can lure Smoke into a one-on-one, I can limit casualties on both sides."

"But you said yourself he's almost always one-hundred percent deadly!"

"Exactly. But I have one thing over Smoke, something he doesn't."

"What would that be, sir?"

Erik fixed a stone-cold stare on Therrin.

"I'm a better fighter."

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Well, that's another chapter done. Let it be known, Smoke is a character created by Reilly.216, and Mark is a character from the Anonymous someguy. I didn't make 'em, someone else did. **


	6. Chapter 6

King of the Sands

**Chapter 6: Beneath the Yellow Sun**

**Good day folks! I started writing this about two hours after finishing chapter 5, mostly because I feel the need to make up for the stories lack of updates previously.**

**That aside, let's go.**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

All they needed was a tumbleweed.

Two men, both standing with their right hands over their revolvers, the hot sun beating down on them, a horde of onlookers. All they needed was a tumbleweed, then the western-movie feel would be complete. A pretty girl in lacy petticoats wouldn't be unwelcome either.

It was a damn shame that there were no plants on Mars.

Or pretty women in lacy petticoats, for that matter.

Erik forced himself out of his musings in time to see his opponent going for his gun. He pulled out his own at lightning speed, matching his foes pace, and pulled the trigger. TFWPKY 1969 vs The Devil You Don't. Two legendary weapons, each with their own stories and fables. Each a tool of war, wielded by some of the greatest Guardians in history.

One shot. That's all they were allowed. One shot, and whoever was left standing would win. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the bullets flew towards their targets. Erik felt the impact of the shot striking his chest, punching through armour plating, but saw his own bullet hammer into the mechanical throat of Smoke. Perfect shot, he thought. Alice would be proud.

Then he blacked out.

**()()()()()**

"_Why did you do something so stupid?" She had asked._

_He had been dumb, hadn't he? Throwing himself into the path of a burst of Shrapnel Launcher fire like that, he was lucky to be alive. He hated luck. Not as much as he hated Fallen, but he hated knowing that some cosmic entity bullshit was the reason he had survived._

"_I… I was body-checking the missile." He answered, breaking into a fit of coughing. "It seemed a like a good idea at the time."_

"_And now you regret it, don't you." Alice replied, rolling her eyes ironically._

"_Kind of." Erik said, before grinning. "It was kind of fun, though." _

"_You're absolutely crazy, Erik Volden." Alice said. "I have no idea why I love you."_

"_Must be my…" He started coughing again. "My incredible wit and irresistible charm."_

"_More likely that I'm just crazy too." Alice said, before kissing him lightly on the cheek._

"_And that's why I love you." Erik said._

_Then Erik's dreaming shifted to something a bit less pleasant._

**()()()()()**

"_Smoke!" Erik called, looking around the bowl-looking clearing. _

_He was anxious. What if Smoke chose to shoot him without revealing himself?_

_Nah, he decided. Smoke's a Hunter. He wouldn't be able to resist the chance to scare me before killing me._

"_Smoke, I know you're here!" He called again. "I'm calling you out!"_

_The black armoured Exo emerged from the shadows cast by the rocks rimming the valley. His hand cannon was in his hand, and Erik would know it anywhere. The Devil You Don't. The legendary Hand Cannon that killed Pecadillo, the dancer-Warlock. The gun that had, in the hands of Smoke, killed a thousand enemies. _

_The gun that was built for murder._

'_So many demons, it's hard to keep all their names straight' it's first owner had once said. Erik was inclined to disagree. That gun was a tool of death and little more._

"_Let's do this the old fashioned way." Erik said. "Twenty Yards between us, one shot each. One chance to kill each other."_

"_Why shouldn't I just shoot you now?" Smoke asked. His voice was brimming with threat, despite the monotone accent it was delivered in._

"_Because you can't resist the chance to kill me. I'm Erik Volden, the Gunslinger of Mars, remember? The fastest shot in the Solar System. Everybody says so, and you want to prove them all wrong." Erik said, grinning. "You want to be the best, you gotta kill the best."_

_Erik could practically see the Cortex of the Exo arguing with itself. One part, the sentient, prideful warrior would want to take the challenge, while the programmed killing machine part would want to just end him here._

_Sentience beat programming._

"_One shot." Smoke stated. "No powers, no bullshit. One shot."_

_They took up their positions across from each other, the hot sun beating down on them. All they needed was a tumbleweed…_

**()()()()()**

"…_Marchall_!" The voice bellowed, tearing Erik from his sleeping state.

"Ugh… go away…" He murmured, raising his arm to block out the blinding sun.

"_Marchall_, you must wake. We captured the Hunter, Smoke." Kallus said, gesturing with his chin behind Erik.

Erik turned to see the Exo Hunter with his hands bound with spinmetal ropes behind him, doing the closest an Exo got to scowling. He was on his knees, and being guarded by three Legionaries.

Erik couldn't help himself, and burst out laughing.

"What is so funny, _Marchall_?" Kallus asked.

"It's just… this whole setup is like a bad western movie." Erik said. "A duel under the sun, the villain being captured by the good guys… we sure could use a tumbleweed though."

"Whatever you say, sir." Kallus said. He had grown use to his Ta'aurc's seemingly random statements. "What shall we do with the prisoner?"

Erik beckoned for Kallus to step a bit closer. "I'm planning on letting him go."

"Are you mad, sir!" Kallus said.

"No, just realistic. If we send him back to the Last City, the Vanguard won't get pissy at me, and his hirer will be forced to reveal themselves." Erik said. "Besides… INCOMING!"

Several purple bolts of energy flew through the air, striking the horde of Cabal and blasting several into pieces from the sheer power of the Void energy they were formed of. Erik leapt to one side, drawing his hand cannon, and fired twice, blasting apart two newly appeared Vex Goblins armed with Slap Rifles.

"For a damn firing line!" He roared, firing again and throwing a Goblin back into his compatriots with just the kinetic force of the shot.

The Cabal, to their credit, formed their damn firing line and opened up on the Vex ambush, now revealed to be little more than a Minotaur and a handful of Goblins. They dispatched the small force quickly, losing only a few of their own to the combined rate of fire from the Goblins.

"Is that all of them?" One Cabal asked tentatively, scanning their surroundings.

"Should be, trooper. Anyhow… DAMN IT!" Erik was cursing at the sudden realization that Smoke had slipped away in the midst of the chaos of the battle.

"Shall we deploy a team to go find him?" Kallus asked, holstering his own Slug Gun.

"No. They'd only get killed, and like I said, I want to limit pointless deaths." Erik replied, spinning his hand cannon on his trigger finger twice before holstering it with lightning speed. "Besides, we need him alive and free, remember?"

"Very well sir. I presume we should head for '_Dun Marchalls Gaunt_'?"

"Yes. Call in a dropship. And don't say anything about the plan working."

"Of course, _Marchall_."

Meanwhile, on the edge of the craterous valley crouched Smoke, his flowing green cloak and blackened armour blending with the darkness of the late-evening landscape. He felt for his own gun, patting it reassuringly before turning and setting off.

It would be a long walk to the Imperial Land Tank. And he didn't want to disappoint his boss.

**()()()()()**

"So he still lives?" Therrus asked, as Erik took a seat on his commanders throne.

"Indeed. But it's all part of my plan." Erik replied, cracking his knuckles.

"What will we do if he comes after you?" Therrus asked, gesturing to the troopers and crew around them. "As you said, more guards will hardly change things."

"Of course. All I need is to fight him one-on-one." Erik said, grinning.

"Why?"

"Because then, my dear Therrus, I can find the man he works for."

"And who do you think that is?"

Erik turned and fixed Therrus with a look of what could only be described as pure, unbridled rage.

"I believe it was you." He said simply, reaching TFWPKY 1969 as he did.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Bwah Bwah Bwah!**


	7. Chapter 7

King of the Sands

**Chapter 7: A Maze of Lies**

**Well, I am NEVER doing a double post again.**

**That is all.**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

"Well, isn't this awkward." Erik said, observing the stunned reaction of his intelligence officer as he panicked.

"Th-That's not right! I would never betray you, _Marchall_!" The Cabal said, hands held outwards in a peaceful gesture.

"Several recordings and Psion Commander De'Mitra's testimony say otherwise." Erik replied, grinning slightly.

"De'Mitra is one of my greatest political opponents! He would say anything, accuse me of anything, just to get ahead!" Therrus said, visibly panicking.

"De'Mitra is also one of my best officers." Erik said. "Whereas you, Therrus, are not. You want me dead so you can claim the Last City did it, and start the war anew."

"What gave you that idea?"

"This." Erik gestured with his left hand towards the main screen, where a recording of a Cabal in very recognizable black and green armour speaking to a cloaked figure was starting up.

"_Kill him, and you will get your Glimmer. And your repairs." _The Cabal said.

"_Who?" The cloaked figure asked._

"_Erik Volden, the Marchall of the Cabal." _The Cabal said.

Therrus looked at Erik with an air of desperation. "I… I…" He stuttered.

"You what?" Erik asked, scowling. "You would start a new war, when we just finished the last? You would start hostilities back up again?"

"I… I…" Therrus kept stuttering.

"WHY, DAMN IT? WHY DID YOU WANT TO START A NEW WAR?" Erik roared. "WHY WOULD YOU ENDANGER THE LIVES OF EVERY CABAL IN THE SYSTEM? WHAT REASON DO YOU HAVE?"

"The Cabal are warriors! You would see us grow fat and lazy with your peace treaties and ceasefires!" Therrus said.

"I would see you live, Therrus. I would see you prosper once more, no longer forced into an unending war." Erik sighed. "I would see peace."

"Your peace would do little more than kill us!" Therrus replied. "We would grow weaker as the Vex grew stronger!"

Erik lowered his head, breathing deeply. He couldn't lose it. Not now.

"We could work with the _Akenda_, the _Humaka_, the _Marn Metra_. We could have allies to fight alongside, allies to help us fight back." Erik said.

"Cabal need no allies! We are the mightiest species in the galaxy!" Therrus said. "We do not need the aid of the weakling _Humaka_."

"This _Humaka _is in charge of your army, you _Idrak_!" There was Kallus, right on schedule.

"I am no fool, Kallus! What happened to you all?!" Therrus asked the gathered leaders. "We were mightier before this _Fullner Humaka _joined us! We were greater!"

"We were dying!" Therrin, Therrus's fellow intelligence officer said. "We were fighting an unwinnable war!"

"We were winning! The Vex's numbers were lowering, until the Tau'arc was killed!" Therrus howled. "Why don't you listen to me!"

"BECAUSE YOU ARE A _FULLNER_." Obriok, the Colossus Grandmaster said, his voice sounding like an earthquake. "HUNDREDS OF MY BROTHERS DIE EVERY DAY BECAUSE OF _IDRAK'S _LIKE YOU."

All fell silent as the gargantuan warrior spoke. Obriok was to a Colossus what a Colossus was to a normal Cabal. He was enormous, wielding a modified Siege Tank cannon as his primary firearm, and his armour was several feet thick. He was, on the battlefield, a towering behemoth of firepower, capable of tearing apart enemy forces on his own.

"So, Therrus, have you anything to say before you are executed?" Erik asked.

The Cabal looked up at him, practically radiating hatred.

"_Ishk Hotra Yon Flamma En Helk." _The betrayer said. "I hope you burn in hell."

"See you there." Erik said, before pulling the trigger.

The gunshot seemed to echo around the room for an eternity, the only noise in the otherwise silent command room. Kallus broke the silence being clapping one fist to his chest.

"_Hadden Der Marchall!" _He bellowed, the rest of the commanders taking up the cry. Erik smiled beneath his helmet. And at that moment, he swore something to himself.

He would do everything he could to ensure these peoples safety. After nearly a year of directionless wandering and depression, he had a cause, a reason. Yes, he would do anything to make peace between these factions.

Even give his life.

**()()()()()**

_Erik walked through the ruined buildings and shattered aircraft of the Old Russian Cosmodrome, hunting for the local Fallen, as well as trying to find some cave Cayde-6 wanted scouted out. His Ghost had marked the place, but it was pretty high up, and while Erik could boost his jumps, he couldn't fly. He was pulled from his musings by the sounds of rustling leaves. It was slight, but Erik had always had superhuman hearing, despite his being human._

_Erik drew his Hand Cannon with lightning speed and fired twice. The two shots rang out over the quiet of the Aerodrome, and both punched holes in the underbrush. A single shot came in return, whistling past Erik's ear and forcing him to dive for the ground, firing again. This shot went wide, and another return shot threw up a spray of dirt as it struck the ground in front of him, no doubt the result of the unseen threat being forced to dodge as well. Another shot rang out, punching a bullet into Eriks armour. The gear thankfully halted it, but it was akin to being punched in the solar plexus without warning._

_A revelation came to Erik quickly and without warning._

'_The Fallen don't use bullets.' He realized, ceasing his return fire._

"_Hold up Guardian! I'm a friendly!" He called. Apparently the other guardian heard him, because all return fire ceased in the nick of time._

"_What's your classification?" A voice asked, sounding female, Erik noted._

"_Titan, serving under Commander Zavala!" Erik called back, rising from the ground. "What's yours?"_

"_Titan." The voice was a lot closer, and Erik felt the cold circle of a gun barrel at the back of his neck. "What the hell are you doing here?"_

_Erik couldn't turn to look at her without risking death. "I-I'm completing a bounty." He answered truthfully. _

"_This is my turf for operations. How do you not know that?" The woman responded, her voice full of subtle threat. "Leave. NOW."_

"_Guardians can't own 'turf'." Erik responded. "Unlike the rest of you lot, I actually know the rules for a Guardian."_

"_What are you, a Warlock playing dress up?" The Titan asked, pressing her rifle barrel harder against Eriks spine. "Ain't no Titan who talks like that."_

"_You're threatening one." Erik replied. "Erik Volden, at your service."_

"_I suppose you sound peaceful enough." The woman said, withdrawing her rifle from Erik's throat. "The name's Alice."_

_Erik turned to see a surprisingly small Human Titan. The top of her head could barely touch his shoulder, though that was probably more due to his unnatural height than any fault of her own. He nodded._

"_Now that introductions are over, could I please go? I have a mission to complete." He said._

"_Go right ahead, though I suppose I'm obliged to warn you, there's an infestation of Hive over there, even a big bugger with a sword." She said, gesturing in the direction Erik was headed. _

"_How tough does it look?" Erik asked._

"_He's even bigger than you, he's covered in armour and that sword looks sharp." Alice replied. "I'd say your chances of taking him out are zip."_

"_Fantastic…" Erik sighed, rubbing his head._

"_I… I could help you take him out." Alice said, stuttering. _

"_You just tried to kill me." Erik pointed out. "Why would you help me?" _

"_Look… it gets lonely out here, by myself. You don't have a fireteam, do you?" She asked._

"_No…" Erik answered slowly, not understanding what the diminutive Titan was getting at._

"_Then we could work together! Both of us are pretty low on the ladder, but if we team up, we could get way more done!" She said. "It's mutually beneficial. I keep people from sneaking up on you, and you keep them from shooting me!"_

"_Well… I suppose we could work together." Erik said. "You're right about it getting lonely out here."_

"_Then let's go." Alice said, pulling the safety on her Scout Rifle. "Those Hive aren't going to kill each other."_

"_Sadly." Erik remarked, before reloading his Hand Cannon. He turned to see Alice standing right in his face._

"_Erik, wake up." She said._

**()()()()()**

Erik awoke from his dreams at the sound of a light click. He knew it was probably nothing, but he swore he had heard…

"Now die." Erik rolled out of the way just in time to dodge the fusion rifle round that vaporized the headboard of his bed.

"Smoke! Your hirer is dead!" Erik yelled, his armour forming on his body just in time to catch the next fusion rifle shot. He was sent tumbling back, however, and grasped at the handle of TFWPKY 1969 as he rolled, bringing the weapon up as he rose onto one knee.

The lights in the room clicked on, bathing the room in light, and Erik's helmet visor blinked as it adjusted to the change in brightness. He was given vision back just in time to see Smoke charging him with a knife. He tossed TFWPKY aside and caught the assassins wrist in his left hand, bringing his right around in a curving hook punch.

The Exo took it full in the chin, and twisted with the blow, bending at the back just in time to meet Erik's knee with his face. A wicked 'CRACK' resounded through the room as Smoke flipped back, falling to the ground with his faceplate cracked clean in two. One of his eyes was hanging from its socket, held hanging in place by a small bundle of cables.

"K.O!" Erik yelled, punching the air. "The title goes to Erik Volden!"

Three legionaries, lead by Kallus, rushed into the room, weapons up.

"_Marchall_, you're injured!" One of them said, as Erik looked down at his chest.

Where his chestpiece usually was, there was a scorched hole.

"Oh." Erik said, falling to the ground.


	8. Chapter 8

King of the Sands

**Chapter 8: Reparations**

**Well, I'm back again, bringing you some more King of the Sands. Once again, I have to say, Smoke is an OC created by Reilly.216. Everyone else was me.**

**Let's go!**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

"_Erik." _

"_Erik?"_

"_ERIK!"_

"_Wha…" Erik's eyes flickered open, revealing Alice's face looming awkwardly close to his. "Wha… What happened?"_

"_That Blade of Crota hit you." Alice said, leaning back. "Churchill took a glancing hit from those Acolytes, but he's working okay. I had to shoot a few of them to get them to back off."_

"_Where are they now?" Erik asked, rising to a sitting position, only to fall back down when everything started spinning._

"_Careful now!" Alice said, grabbing him and lowering him down slowly. "That bastard hit you in the head. They're right outside."_

"_Well then, let's go get them!" Erik said, pulling himself up with the aid of a crate, staggering but managing to stay on his feet. _

"_Jeez, tough guy. I guess you really are a Titan." Alice remarked, reloading her scout rifle. "You ready?"_

"_Yeah." Erik replied, pulling the hammer on his pistol. "Let's get going."_

_And with that, they returned to the fray._

_Erik charged out, tackling a Hive Acolyte to the ground. The creature hissed and tried to headbutt him, slamming it's forehead into his. He returned the favour, stunning the monster, before sticking his hand cannon into the creatures mouth and pulling the trigger, splattering it's green and gray blood and brain matter across the ground._

_He heard Alice's rifle crack several times, and the cries of an Acolyte sounded through the rusted hulks of airplanes that surrounded them. Erik rose to his feet and charged his main target; the Blade of Crota. _

_The creature roared as he charged, before swinging its massive sword in a vicious arc. The weapon passed over Erik's head as he ducked beneath the blow, bringing his fist up in a vicious uppercut to what passed for the creatures jaw. He felt his energy-sheathed fist crack something on the beasts head, and saw a piece of chitin-plating fly through the air over his head._

_He rolled back as the beast lashed out with a wicked kick aimed at Erik's chest, firing his hand cannon twice into the Blade's gut. He saw its solo eye implode, in perfect conjunction with another crack from Alice's rifle. The creature roared in agony, its left hand coming up to clutch at its face, and Erik took the chance to fire several more rounds at it. He saw the bullets spray chips of chitin as several holes appeared in its chest. _

_Alice's rifle cracked once more, blasting a shot into the hole where the monsters eye used to be, and the Blade roared once more before falling to the ground, slowly rotting as plates of armour and strips of flesh peeled themselves from its bones. Its sword started to float in place, and Alice looked at Erik._

"_Is it supposed to do that?" She asked, gesturing to the now levitating weapon._

"_I… I don't know, actually. Should I try to… take it?" He asked._

_Several cries, identifiable as Fallen Vandals, sounded through the chill air of the Cosmodrome, and Alice looked at Erik._

"_It's worth a shot." She said._

_Erik reached out and grabbed the weapon by the hilt, feeling power course through him, filling his thoughts with violence and his body with adrenaline. He was ready to kill. Another cry sounded through the air, and Alice looked at Erik._

"_Erik, you need to wake up. They need you." She said, and Erik was forced out of his dreams again._

**()()()()()**

"No! You WILL save the _Marchall_, or I will kill you where you stand!" Erik heard Akanda roar. She sounded pissed, he thought.

"The damage is too great! His chances of living are… he's awake!" Erik heard a higher pitched voice say, before his eyes flicked open.

He was lying on a cot in a very, VERY white room. Everything was white. The walls, the bed, the Psion standing at the foot of the aforementioned bed… Where was he?

"Where am I?" He voiced the thought aloud, and the Psion looked at him incredulously.

"You're in the… what is the word… clinic? Infirmary?" The Psion medic said. "You took a _Laszra Slugrak _shot to the chest, and your personal guard rushed you here."

"A laser rifle… oh crap!" Erik sat up, feeling his chest tighten at the motion. He looked down to see his entire torso was covered in bandages made of the strange cloth-plants the Cabal seemed to use as gauze. "Smoke! Is he alive?"

"Ummm…" Akanda said. "He is not dead, at least. The damage he sustained seems to have him shut down."

"Good, then there's still time to act!" Erik said, rising from the bed. "I know how we can fix him!"

"Fix him... _Marchall_, you're not making any sense." Akanda said. "He's broken? If so, he tried to kill you. Why fix him?"

"Because there is something very, VERY wrong with Smoke. I figured out what was last night, and why the recording showed Therrus offering repairs." Erik said, sounding excited. "Smoke's primary cortex is damaged. He's practically schizophrenic, and unable to think straight."

"So?" Akanda asked, leaning towards him in a sign of curiosity.

"Smoke wants to be fixed, and Therrus can give him that." Erik answered, grinning. "But so can we."

"So we… 'fix' this _Marn Metra_, and then…" Akanda let the sentence trail off.

"Then… well, I don't really know, actually." Erik admitted.

"So you want to repair the being that just tried to kill you, and you don't even know why." Akanda said.

"Look at it this way, Akanda. You're my main bodyguard, your job is to defend me and keep me alive, I get that. But look at the possibilities this presents! We can basically save the life of a Guardian." Erik said, looking the woman in the eye. "This could seal the deal."

"Seal the deal… what?"

"Human figure of speech. This could make the Guardians trust us! Make them believe us when we say we want to help."

"I can see the value in that."

"Exactly. So, Akanda Ta'mer, will you help me do this?" Erik asked, using his guards full name.

"I will, _Marchall_." She replied.

"Then let's go fix a problem." Erik finished, before rising from the bed.

**()()()()()**

"Three… three to k-k-kill, then I can jump through the wind-d-dow… k-k-kill… three to kill… not-t-t enough…" Smoke was whispering to himself. More appropriately, he was dually planning his escape and planning the murder of all the Cabal who had locked him up in here.

"Smoke!" The calling of his voice made the Exo's head jolt up, single functional eye focusing on the Titan who he had been hired to kill. Erik Volden Ta'aurc, leader of the Cabal.

"What-t-t-t do you want?" Smoke asked.

"Well, I want a nice tumbler of whiskey and my own private island in the Carribean, but that probably isn't an option. However, I can offer you something YOU want." Erik replied.

"What-t-t-t's that-t-t?" Smoke queried, looking up curiously.

"I can fix you." Erik said.

"You can… you can repair my cort-t-tex?" Smoke said, rising from his bed. "You can make… make the voices go away?"

"Yes I can. I can also probably fix that stuttering issue." Erik said. "It'll be tough, and you'll be inert for a while, but when you wake up…"

"I'll do it-t-t." Smoke said. "So long as the voices leave."

"Then it's a go. Akanda!" Erik called, summoning the massive Phalanx.

"Yes, _Marchall_?" She asked, standing at attention.

"Alert the engineers Project Slipped-Disc is a go, and to ready Engineering Bay Three." Erik said, glancing at Smoke. "It's time to solve this problem once and for all."

**()()()()()**

"DIE!"

The enormous metallic beast fell to the ground, sparks bursting from the ruins of its singular eye. Its armour was dented and damaged, and its right arm had been blasted off at the elbow by a well-aimed burst of slug rifle fire. They had killed it with ease, the elite team of Psion Pathfinders. Surrounded, outnumbered and outgunned, it had died with little to show for its efforts, other than its new lack of an eye.

"Good job, Serethren." The Psion team's leader said. "That burst of fire was perfectly aimed."

"Thank you, _Thron'arc_, but it was Errerins psychic might that brought the beast down, combined with your own shooting ability. I simply finished the job." Serethren replied.

"A well performed take down by all three of us, then." Errerin said, leaping from her vantage point above them. "The question is, now who has to buy _Likuura _when we return to camp?"

"Perhaps we should all pay." Korrodin, the squad leader, said.

"And ruin a tradition older than ourselves?" Errerin replied, anger filling her voice. "Why, that burst of shrapnel must have hit you harder than I thought!"

"Why, you whelp!" Korrodin retorted, sounding angered as well. "If you had been quicker with that burst of fire, it wouldn't have gotten the shot off!"

"Korrodin, Errerin, please. I'll buy the _Likuura_, just stop fighting!" Serethren, said, panicking.

His two squadmates looked at him, before bursting out laughing. Serethren, needless to say, was very confused.

"Ha! I told you he would fall for it!" Korrodin said, voice filled now with mirth rather than anger.

"Indeed! Well, Serethren, looks like you're paying!" Errerin said.

"I… I… I hate you both." Serethren said, sounding annoyed.

"Yet somehow we'll pick up the shattered remnants of our lives and carry on." Errerin replied. "You really are too easy to fool!"

"Ugh…" Serethren sighed, knowing he would never hear the end of this.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Well, that's a wrap! Let it be known, Serethren, Errerin and Korrodin are all creations from the mind of SonofAstora, a good friend of mine, who told me I probably needed some more Cabal characters to flesh out the story. Tell me if you enjoyed the bit with them, and I'll give them a greater or lesser role depending on your feedback.**

**See ya' later!**


	9. Chapter 9

King of the Sands

**Chapter Nine: The Game and the Offer**

**Well, I'm back! Again. No idea why that should be news to anyone, but I'm back! Thanks to all those who pushed this story to over one-thousand hits. Seriously, when I started King of the Sands, I never expected it to go this well. Once again, thanks.**

**Let's go!**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

Hunter and Psion flitted between shadows, never ending their search. The thrill of the chase is everything to a Hunter, and the thrill of outwitting their foe is like ambrosia to the Psion Pathfinders. Every near miss, every close call, every time encirclement is evaded, their pulses go higher and higher. The Psion from the escape, and the Hunter from the failure. But failure is almost welcomed, as it means the game can go on.

Three Hunters, three Psion's. A fair fight, the Hunter's natural skill at tracking matched by the Psion's mastery of evasion. False trails, distracting noises, every trick is used, every tactic performed with machinelike precision. Sand flits through this gallery as it flits through all buildings in Freehold, but here it seems especially important. A step in a pile of sand leaves a footprint, and a footprint can spell loss.

Thus the game continued, never ending or pausing. For an hour they played, not a single shot fired, for the game is not about the kill, but the chase. The hunt. Silence is a constant feature of the game, only broken at the very end by a gunshot. For Hunters and Psion's both know how to win, and that is not through the burning of ammunition. Sure, a trip mine may be placed, or a psychic blast used to distract, but gunfire is taboo to them. It would break the solace, the quiet joy they find in the game.

The Hunters are brought down to two when a bookshelf collapses on top of one of their number, who failed to realize the creaking he heard was important. The Psion's also lose someone, pinned by a sudden avalanche of sand, brought on by a single glittering throwing knife. Both live, but are trapped, and counted as casualties. That is how the game works. Never ending in death, as death would spoil these warriors fun.

Finally, the Psion's are pinned in place, trapped by another avalanche of sand and two well placed bookshelves. This library is like a maze, filled with dead ends, but both sides are tired and desire a change of pace. Now they will fight.

Or so the Hunters think.

A single blast of psychic energy, that is all it takes. A single blast, used at the right time, and both bookshelves are falling, an inevitable drop stopped only by the sickening 'CRACK' brought on by their landing on top of the pair of Hunters. The Hunters Ghosts float above them, taking their position as the surviving Hunter is freed and revives them.

The game has ended.

Words are exchanged, both praise and criticism, brought on by the revelation of alcohol. These warriors have done this many times, and not just after the treaty. These soldiers had found kindred spirits within one another, warriors they could respect and admire, but criticize and correct. Warriors who both needed improvement. The game is older than the treaty, for it has been around as long as these six soldiers relationship after they met, oh so long ago.

The Psion's call the game _Locta En Evada_, Search and Escape, but the Hunters have a less formal-sounding name for it. A name that invokes happier memories, thoughts of better times and the innocence of childhood. A name that, while taken from a game of children, is made fitting by the actions taken in the game.

Manhunt.

"I must say, Kayla, you nearly had us there with that throwing knife." Korrodin said, gesturing at the woman with his glass. "If Errerin hadn't heard it, I fear we all may have been buried, instead of just Serethren."

"That was a good ploy with the bookshelves, Errerin. We didn't think to look up." Kormar, an Awoken warrior whose incredibly dark-purple skin made him almost pitch black, an ideal feature for a warrior of stealth. "Though, had we been less gullible, that trick wouldn't have worked twice."

"But you are that foolish, Kormar!" Errerin laughed, sipping at her own drink. "We know you by now! You and Kayla are overly zealous when you think you've won, and ignore caution if you smell victory."

"That's true, Kormar." The third Hunter, Europa-73, said, as her cyclopean face-plate shifted its singular eye. "You stop thinking the moment you victory is within your grasp."

"Strong talk from one who spent half the game buried beneath a bookshelf." Korrodin said, to mock-anger from Europa.

"I will have you know, had it not been for that _Novices Guide to Weapons Maintenance_, I would have dug out of there and saved the day!" Europa said, before good naturedly laughing. "Those damn Warlocks and their giant encyclopedias."

"Well, in the end, it was another well-played game. I trust we meet the same time next week?" Korrodin asked, placing his glass down.

"I'm afraid not, Korrodin. We have that expedition, remember?" Korman replied, placing down his own glass.

"That's right. The assault on the Black Garden. I still can't believe we're really going through with that." Korrodin replied. "It seems like madness."

"Yet we're doing it anyways." Serethren said, breaking his silence.

"Well, I know we've been selected for that op. What about your team?" Korman asked.

"We're also going. Command wants us to serve as scouts." Errerin said. "We'll be working with you and another team of Guardians, Fireteam Wasp or something."

"Wasp… I've heard of them. Apparently they're alright." Europa said. "I used to know a member a while ago. A Gunslinger named Alexander."

"Well, whoever they are, they'd better be good. I don't want to be dragged down by a bunch of wimps." Errerin replied.

"Well, with that out of the way, I propose we end this meeting." Kayla said. "I need to hand in some bounties, and we all need to prepare for the Black Garden."

"I'd say I'll drink to that, but we already did." Serethren said. "See you all in a week!"

The friends all said their goodbye's, and set off for their homes. They knew the upcoming mission would be difficult, but they feared little about it. Even should the Black Garden prove dangerous, they would prove more dangerous. They were warriors forged in battle, and tempered by their union.

Tempered by the Game.

**()()()()()**

Erik stepped onto the pedestal set up for him, looking over the… HIS, Cabal. Almost a thousand expectant faces looked up at him, awaiting his words of encouragement, or of criticism. The previous _Marchall_, Valus, had been a poor speaker, brought on by the madness filling him from his prolonged dealings with The Darkness. His were speeches of bile-spewing anger, screaming and bellowing. Erik was different.

When Erik spoke, the Cabal couldn't NOT pay attention. Despite his comparatively quiet tone, his voice was so assured, so firm in its conviction, every soldier had to listen. His were subtle speeches of encouragement, criticism and promises of glory and peace. When _Marchall _Erik Volden Tau'arc spoke, everyone listened.

"Brothers and sisters of the Cabal, I have gathered us here not to critique or encourage, but to offer." Erik began, to the surprise of many of his listeners. What could he be offering? "As you know, the Black Garden is the heart of the Vex." Quiet expressions of anger were given at the sound of that cursed name. "Once we destroy the Heart of the Black Garden, the Cabal will have less need of our army. Therefore, I am offering you all something different from what you are used to."

Erik paused for dramatic effect. "I am aware of just how foreign this concept will sound, but what I am offering may indeed be well worth it. I offer freedom." Exclamations of confusion were given at that. Freedom from what? "Freedom, from your duties. I am offering you the opportunity to leave the military, and seek normal lives."

Now THAT got a reaction. Every single head snapped upwards, every single mouth said something, whether it be in confusion, anger, relief, or even joy.

Contrary to popular belief, the Cabal, while being hyper militarized, weren't some sort of militaristic state. True, all people could be called upon for war, but those people could live lives as shopkeeps, builders, labourers. Those people were part of something called the 'Home Guard', volunteers who could be called upon in times of crisis, but were otherwise free to live their lives.

Erik knew all this, and knew the Cabal on Mars had been through hard times. Every able-bodied Cabal, Psion and Colossus had been called upon to fight the Vex, and thus a mission of colonization had become a mission of survival. Now, they could live their lives, do something more than kill. He was offering them the chance to live a life otherwise impossible.

He was offering them freedom.

And freedom sounded pretty damn good to some of the Cabal present.

"We have been graciously offered an opportunity by the Speaker to give those Cabal who would leave the military places of living in the Last City." That drew even more statements of surprise. They could live on Earth? Alongside Humanity, the Awoken and the Exo's whom they had fought for so long? Away from Mars, and it's constant violence?

"There is no catch, no price to pay. Of course, not all will choose this path, and those who choose to live on Mars will dwell in the cavern cities beneath our fortresses." That was already common knowledge, that those who couldn't fight lived in the caverns. It was how the Cabal worked. Or at least, how they used to work.

"So, brothers and sisters, that is my offer. Freedom from the military, and the duties therein. Those who should choose this path, know this; you will not be judged by your fellows, by your officers or by me. I suggested this path, and all of your leaders agreed with me." This was a relief to the people who had harboured such fears.

"You may apply for a pass of immigration and a discharge by speaking to your commander, and this will take effect one week after we defeat the Heart of the Black Garden." And thus Erik lay down his greatest advantage; now those who sought a new life would have something to fight for. Something to kill for.

"That is all." Erik finished, and he was answered by a simultaneous clap of a thousand fists on a thousand cuirass's, and that call which he had grown to love so much.

"_Hadden Dun Marchall!_"

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Well, that's a wrap. See you all in the next few days!**


	10. Chapter 10

King of the Sands

**Chapter Ten: Confessions**

**Well, this is it. Chapter Ten. Not the last chapter, but we're getting there. I'm aiming for two more chapters after this, most likely one for the Black Garden battle (That'll be a long chapter) and a sort of epilogue to shamelessly tease a sequel. After all, there's still Vault of Glass, Crota's End and the upcoming House of Wolves to play around with, not to mention the fifteen-billion other DLC's planned.**

**In the other news, happy 18****th**** birthday to me!**

**Let's go!**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

_The blade was death and destruction incarnate, turning Erik into the avatar of death. Up and down the bone-like blade went, spilling the blood of Fallen Vandal's, Dregs and Hive Acolyte's indiscriminately. Nothing could stand before him, and when he felt its ultimate fully powered, he didn't hesitate to use it, sending a wave of pure force out of the blade to tear apart anything that got in the way._

_He could remember little of the fight, only flashes of pure, unadulterated violence. Purple Hive blood sparkling in the sunlight, grey Fallen blood glistening like drops of liquid silver. Corpses spinning away from him, leaving contrails of gore behind until the sickening SLAP sound they made when they struck the ground. The feeling of breaking bones jarring his bones, and the sounds of screams of pain and anger._

_According to Alice, he had been terrifying._

_Especially when he nearly attacked her._

_Erik broke out of his murder trance with the blade held over her as he grasped her throat and pinned her to the ground with his knee on her sternum and his boot on her arm. He recoiled, throwing away the sword and jumping backwards, off of her, landing several feet away, before staring at the sword, terror in his eyes._

"_Geez Erik, are you okay?" Alice asked, stepping towards him. Erik's response was to step backwards, hands outstretched. _

"_D-don't come any closer!" He said, stuttering._

"_Why? What's wrong?" Alice said, taking another step._

"_I… I… I nearly killed you!" Erik said. "I almost stabbed you! With that sword!"_

"_So? You didn't." Alice said, hands held up in a placating gesture. "It's fine! You lost control for a minute, you're a Striker! It's your job."_

_But… I almost killed-"_

"_You didn't. Don't worry, I get it. You lost control, went a little nuts. You were just in a fight-or-die situation." Alice said, quickly stepping forwards and gently taking his arm in her hand. "I get it."_

_Erik stared at her, swallowing. "I… I…" He sighed. "I am never touching one of those again. Killing is one thing, but when I lose control like that…"_

"_Erik, stop blaming yourself." Erik looked up at that, to see Alice without her helmet._

"_For what, nearly killing you?" Erik said._

"_No, for my death." Alice said, as she transformed into the armour she had worn when she died. "It wasn't your fault."_

"_If I had been stronger-"_

"_If you had been stronger, you wouldn't have wasted almost a year of your life in mourning and self-hate!" Alice said, grabbing Erik's head in her hands, one on each cheek. _

"_But I-" He was cut off by Alice kissing him. Her lips tasted like strawberries, he noted. He slowly let himself fall limp, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her closer._

_After nearly a minute, Alice pulled away. "That make you feel better?" She asked, looking at him with those ice-blue eyes that he had loved so much._

"_Definitely." Erik said. "I… how are you doing this?"_

"_When I died, you took some of my light into you, absorbed it, and thus, my consciousness. I've been living in your head for the past year and a half." Alice explained. "I can only talk to you when you're asleep, though."_

"_Why didn't you do this before? When I was drinking, that is? Erik asked._

"_I… Erik, before you make assumptions, watching you drink and sink into that depression was one of the hardest things I've done, and I used to punch monsters for a living." Alice said. "You needed to get over that yourself. And it looks like you did, being the leader of the Cabal and all that."_

"_I… can we do this again?" Erik asked, looking at her hopefully. Alice laughed._

"_It's your head, Erik. You can do whatever you want." She said, before her face switched from a smile to a frown. "But you have to wake up now."_

"_Bu-" Before Erik could protest, he was sucked into the real world, and away from his beloved._

**()()()()()()**

"So… Why am I doing this again?" Mark asked, his auto rifle held loosely in one hand while the other drummed out a steady rhythm on his left thigh-plate.

"Because you signed up, presumably." That was Dominion-13, Crucible champion and supposedly one of the deadliest Guardians alive today. In his hands were the recently discovered legendary dual hand-cannons Romulus and Remus, plated with steel and both bearing an old Roman Aquila mark. "I'm here because Shaxx won't let the team leave without at least one person who knows what they're doing on this op."

"Yeah, but I didn't think we would actually, you know… attack the Black Garden." Mark said, continuing his drumming.

"That's what the briefing said, why else would you sign up?" Allesandra, the Awoken Warlock, asked, glowing solar energy floating in an aura around her hand.

"Bragging rights, mostly." Mark said. "That and the opportunity to uppercut some Vex motherfuckers."

"You really do hate them, don't you?" Dominion asked.

"Yeah. Assholes killed my family, destroyed most of Venus… yeah, I hate them." Mark replied, ceasing his drumming when Allesandra shot him a dirty look.

Two more figures entered, the slim form of the Bladedancer Larana easily identifiable, but the next figure was clad in his full armour, so no one could figure out who they were. Mark winked at Larana, who gave him a slight smile before sitting beside him.

The armoured figure chose to stand, and the room went silent in anticipation as the next set of members of their team, Fireteam Owl, entered the room, the trio of Hunters looking around before sitting in the far left corner of the room.

The last people in were the Hunter-Warlock combo team known as Fireteam Wasp, mostly due to their choice of garish yellow and black colouring for their armour. Alexander, the Gunman of Venus, took a look around at the assembled Guardians before taking a seat at one of the several tables. He was joined by Thalia and Aria, the twin Voidwalker Warlocks who made up the bulk of Wasp.

Last to enter was Erik Volden Tau'arc, _Marchall _of the Cabal and leader of this operation. He was trailed by another Guardian, unidentifiable beneath their heavy cloak, and three Cabal Psions, who looked nervous to say the least. The team was finally gathered in its entirety. At least, the Guardians were.

"Guardians." Erik said, drawing the gathered warriors attention. "I'm not going to bother with bullshit; we're here to kill a god."

"And we all know how great that went for Morn and her team." Mark said, only to receive another scowl from Allesandra. "Too soon? Okay."

"Anyhow, we're going to kill this god the way Guardians kill everything; shoot the ever-living _Shieth _out of it, before running up and beating its face in with our fists. Hunters and Warlocks exempt from the second part, of course." Erik said, earning a few giggles from the group. "Presumably you'll be hiding behind us Titans and yelling encouragement."

"If encouragement means a throwing knife in the ass, you've already earned it." Alexander called, earning even more giggling.

"That better not have been a euphemism for something inappropriate, or I would have some very serious questions."Erik said straight faced, causing the whole room to burst into riotous laughter.

After about half a minute, the laughter died down and Erik continued his briefing. "Anyhow, as I was saying, we're going after the Black Garden. Here's our basic force composition." Erik waved his hand at the wall and his Ghost, Churchill, popped into existence and projected some words and numbers onto the wall. "Fireteams Owl, Wasp and Whisper, as well as Larana, Edge," The armoured guardian in the corner gave a little wave at that. "Dominion and Smoke."

The cloaked figure in the back flipped off his cloaks cowl, revealing the infamous black-plated face of the Exo assassin. "Evening everyone." He said, his ever present dogtags now dangling in site. "Lovely day for a war meeting."

"The Guardian forces will be led by Dominion, as he is the most senior Guardian. I, on the other hand, will be leading my Cabal." Erik said, as the slide on the wall changed. "Two teams of three Psions, my Phalanx bodyguards Akanda and Tarkus, and a unit of three Colossi led by Obriok, the Colossus Grandmaster."

"Why're there gonna be more Guardians than Cabal?" Mark asked.

"Because we're also bringing along three squads of eight Legionaries, three more three-man Psion teams and four more Colossi, but they'll be protecting the gate. Thanks to some testing, we've figured out any sizable force sent into the Black Garden will be destroyed by a far larger Vex force. We'll need a smaller team to slip by unnoticed." Erik reasoned, but now it was Alexanders turn to ask a question.

"Why bring twenty-five troops then?" He asked, gesturing at the group of Guardians. "Surely we don't need this many people to kill a few Vex."

"You underestimate the Vex, Alexander." Erik said. "We needed a team of both sides best, and I assembled them here. Anything more and we can't slip past the Vex, anything less and we get destroyed."

"That makes a bit more sense." Alexander agreed.

"Well, that's basically it for today's little meeting. All of you, get some sleep." Erik ordered. "You'll need it."

"What are you, my mother?" Mark muttered, leaving the room.

"Mark, actually, hold back a minute. I need to talk to you." Erik said, and the Titan stopped and entered the room. The pair waited a minute for everyone to leave the room, before Erik started.

"First off, I wanted to give you this." And with that he handed the rather young Guardian a rifle. Mark took the weapon, feeling the balance in his hand, until he realized what he was holding a few seconds later.

"This… this is Payback SOS!" The Titan said excitedly looking at the Vanguard symbol marking the left side of the main body of the gun.

"It is. Fully upgraded, too. It… it belonged to a friend of mine, but sh-they're dead, and they wouldn't have wanted me letting it go to waste." Erik said. "It's hooked up to extract kinetic force from your gauntlets. Punching enemies will increase reload time, and it's also hooked up to sense kills. Each kill will increase the velocity and impact of rounds, giving you a damage boost."

"Something like this… this is way better than my Galahad... why me, though?" Mark asked, looking up at the taller Titan.

"Because you, of all the people going on this mission, I know I can trust." Erik answered mysteriously, before walking away, leaving Mark to admire his new weapon.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Well, that's another Chappy out of the way! OC credit goes to:**

**Fireteam Wasp (Alexander, Thalia, Aria): The Archivist of Eternity**

**Fireteam Owl (Korman, Europa-73, Kayla): SonofBerenike**

**Psion Pathfinders (Errerin, Korrodin, Serethren): SonofAstora**

**Larana: DaughterofCatarina**

**Smoke: Reilly.216**

**Mark: Someguy**

**Dominion-13: RicheytheKing 13**

**Everyone Else: Me!**


	11. Chapter 11

King of the Sands

**Chapter Eleven: Practice Makes Perfect…?**

**Well, last stretch folks. After this, it'll be two more chapters, and then King of the Sands will have reached my goal of (I literally wrote this down in the design document); 'More than ten chapters or something'.**

**Sometimes I astound even myself.**

**Let's go!**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

"Edge, stop doing that please." Larana said, even as the ever-silent Titan rolled to the next wall. "The match just started, you don't need to stay in cover."

The only reply was a series of quick hand gestures that Larana couldn't translate for the life of her.

"I'm pretty sure he just told you to fuck off." Mark said, only for Edge to flip him off, before pointing at the upraised middle finger.

"Actually, I'm fairly sure that's the signal for 'fuck off'." Larana said, before Edge nodded rapidly. "Anyhow, can we please just try to find these guys?"

Edge nodded, before using his jump jets to leap onto a rooftop, his sniper rifle, Broken Truth-LR1, in hand. Larana ducked inside of the building, looking around with her fusion rifle raised, before signaling for Mark to follow. Her sometimes-boyfriend-sometimes-arch-nemesis was carrying some new gun, she noted. It had the mark of the Vanguard on it, but she couldn't figure out which rifle it was exactly.

She saw Edge poke his head out from the stairwell, gesturing for the pair of guardians to follow him up. Larana jogged up the concrete steps, cracked and worn from years of erosion and gradual decay, before reaching the roof. The building's roof was bathed in the Russian sun and had a commanding view of the entire arena. She heard Mark pound up the stairs, before crouching and moving slowly towards Edge.

Edge looked at her, laying prone, and pointed to the other end of the arena. They could see one of their opponents, the Awoken Warlock Allesandra, standing on the rooftop. She had a shotgun in her hands, and appeared to be searching for the enemy as well. Larana looked at Edge, who seemed to be requesting permission. She nodded once, and Edge nodded back before peering down the EagleEye scope of his black and white rifle.

There was a loud crack, the rifle jumped slightly, and Allesandra was spinning away with a bullet in her head. Edge only took his left hand off his weapon, holding up a single finger. One shot, one kill.

"Keep us covered." Larana said, before leaping off the building, rolling to a stop at the bottom.

Her knife in one hand and her fusion rifle in the other, she advanced up the main road, searching for a contact. Suddenly, a sniper shot whizzed past her head, and she leapt aside into an alley even as a hail of machine gun fire tore apart the tarmac she had been standing on. She heard Mark open up with his own rifle as she pulled herself up into a first story window right beside her, intent on flanking their opponents. She heard a loud crack of sniper fire, and a cry of pain. The machine gun had now stopped firing. Good.

She sprinted through the building and jumped through the window leading into the other alley, seeing a Hunter, likely that Eron fellow, bringing her knife up as she dived towards him. Eron brought up his own knife, deflecting hers, and Larana spun with the blow and ended up behind him, slashing the knife at his back. Eron, to his credit, was fast and intercepted the blow with one of his own.

Sadly, he had forgotten that Larana had been a dancer, and still was to some extent. Larana ducked and twisted with unnatural grace, ending up spinning in place and slashing with her knife, while grabbing Eron's cloak and pulling him down, right onto her knife blade. She watched as he realized he was impaled and the shock that spread across his face, before he finally died.

"**Victory to Fireteam Alpha." **The game announcer, Erik, said, his voice booming across the arena. **"Prepare for next match: Fireteam Wasp vs Fireteam Owl."**

**()()()()()**

"How did you move like that?" Eron asked, staring at Larana intently. "It was like I was fighting a pool of water, always shifting and moving away from my attacks!"

"Simple." Larana replied. "Practice, and determination."

"Any words on why I suck so much?" Eron asked.

"You focus too much on individual blows, you don't think about the next one. You also move really slowly." Larana replied. "Also, your girlfriend over there should probably not stand on top of buildings in a warzone."

"One; I'm not his girlfriend." Allesandra said angrily. "Two; How was I supposed to know Edge is a sniper? He's a freaking Titan."

Edge looked at the angry Warlock, before gesturing at the ever present sniper rifle on his back. He then looked at Larana and shrugged in a sort of _'Why is she so dumb?' _way.

"Also, Josh should probably not use just a machine gun." Mark pointed out, causing the other Titan to frown.

"I know, it's just that I'm shit with most other weapons." He said. "I have at least twenty Heavy Ammo Synthesis's in my gear."

"My advice? Find a good Auto Rifle." Mark offered. "They're basically just mini MG's, and they're pretty easy to find. I recommend the Galahad if you can find one, it'll probably work better then that pulse rifle you've got."

"Thanks Mark. I'll get on that." Josh said before turning to Edge. "How'd you end up becoming a sniper anyhow?"

Edge looked slightly desperately at Larana, his green eyes sending a message of something akin to _'please explain'_.

"One, Edge can't talk. His vocal cords were torn out by a Thrall when he first rebirthed. Two, he prefers sniping. The mechanical precision of it is something that appeals to him." Larana answered.

It was then that the two Fireteams of the most recent match walked in, laughing and trading trash talk.

"Who won?" Mark asked, calling out to the new arrivals from across the room.

"We did." Alexander called back. "Old Korman here forgot how powerful Golden Gun is."

"And that it hurts like a bitch to get shot with." Korman grumbled.

"Any idea who's next?" Allesandra asked.

"Erik vs Dominion." Those words produced a chorus of anticipatory 'ooohhhhsss'.

"I'm have GOT to see this!" Mark and Josh yelled simultaneously, before sprinting to the observation room. Larana watched them go, before looking at Edge.

"You wanna go watch?" She asked, even as Allesandra and Eron followed the pair of younger Titans up the stairs. Edge only nodded in reply, before heading up the stairs himself.

**()()()()()**

"OH SHIT, THAT WAS CLOSE!" Josh yelled, as the gathered Guardians watched Erik leap out of the way of a grenade, lobbing his own lightning grenade in return.

The metallic baton struck the wall behind Dominion, and suddenly enormous bolts of lightning were tearing through the air, pulsing and crackling. Dominion's twin hand cannons, Romulus and Remus, blazed away in his hands.

"What's up with those guns Dominions got?" Josh asked, glancing at Allesandra. To his surprise, it was the newly arrived Alexander who answered.

"They're legendary-grade hand cannons, meant to be dual-wielded. They have this linking effect, that basically makes it so hitting an enemy with Romulus increases Remus's damage, while hitting an enemy with Remus increases Romulus's rate of fire." Alexander explained, his eyes never breaking from the screen. "That's why Romulus is firing slower, and not as often. Romulus's cylinder hold six shots, while Remus's holds twelve."

"Cool." Josh replied, still watching the pair of legendary Guardians go at it.

Suddenly, Erik was falling, struck by a shot, and Dominion moved in for the kill. Josh was biting at the tips of his gauntlets, and Mark was tapping a rapid beat on his thigh-guard.

Then Dominion was standing over Erik, Romulus's fat barrel positioned right over the Cabal generals face. Then Erik made his move. He grabbed Romulus's barrel and pushed it up, even as the gun fired, pulling Dominion to the ground by his other arm. The two wrestled on the ground, before Dominion seemed to explode with purple energy, sending Erik flying.

Erik landed hard in the centre of the road, but stood, drawing TFWPKY with his right hand as Dominion raised Remus. Both guns fired once, and both Guardians went down, bullet holes appearing in their facemasks. Josh and Mark were going nuts.

"It's a tie!" Mark yelled, even as Alexander nodded once in agreement. "They shot each other right at the same time!"

"Had they both been drawing, Erik probably would have won." Aria, one of the two Warlocks from Fireteam Wasp, pointed out. "Dominion got his shot off at the same time, and he was already drawn. Erik had to pull, cock and fire, all Dominion had to do was shoot, and he still nearly lost."

"Erik's easily the fastest draw here." Alexander said. "He was nicknamed 'The Gunslinger of Mars' for a reason."

"Even faster than you?" Thalia, Arias sister, asked teasingly.

"Definitely. I'm a better shot with a rifle, though." Alexander replied.

"Well, if that's all for today, I'm gonna go get a drink." Eron said, yawning. A chorus of agreements sounded out, and the Guardians slowly trickled out, leaving only Alexander standing in the room, toying with his own hand cannon, while staring at the paused image of Dominion and Erik firing their weapons.

"Soon, you sons of a bitches. Soon they'll all be mine." He muttered. "Soon."

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Action! Intrigue! What more could you possibly want?!**

**See ya!**


	12. Chapter 12

King of the Sands

**Chapter 12: Mary, Mary Quite Contrary…**

**Well… this is almost it. **

**After this, it will have been one month since I first posted Chapter One of King of the Sands. This, not including the Epilogue, is the final chapter before I… I dunno, write something else, I guess.**

**Let's go.**

**(Note; thank you to Light 'Em Up by Falloutboy for motivating me enough to finish this.)**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

"Holy shit."

That seemed to be the general reaction to the teams first sight of the Black Garden, fortress of the Vex and home to the literal heart of darkness. This would be the mission that would make or break the new alliance between the Cabal and the Last City. After all, if their two groups coming together could bring about the demise of the greatest power the darkness had to offer, what could stand against their united might?

Certainly not any foe of this realm, that was for sure.

The Garden was indeed beautiful, however. Strange rectangular mesas rose from the fog that permeated the area, covered in shrubs, trees, grass and even flowers. Amongst them wandered Vex that seemed to be tending to the plants, seemingly spraying them with void energy drawn from their hands. It was a captivating sight, and one that few would likely forget.

"I WOULD SUGGEST YOU STOP STARING LIKE _YOUNDAR _AND KEEP MOVING." Obriok, the Grandmaster of the Colossus forces in Erik's army, said. His voice was akin to a rockslide, a low rumbling that signaled death was approaching.

He was equipped with a massive weapon, in comparison to the Guardians own firearms. A turret taken from a Goliath Tank and refitted to suit his needs as a primary weapon. The gun could bring down a starship, some said, and none who had seen it in action could deny such a claim. Despite the fact it was bigger than even Erik himself, Obriok wielded it like a rifle.

"I agree with the Colossus. We can't stop and stare every time we see something cool." Thalia said, her robes stirring in the light breeze. Her chosen weapon was a simple scout rifle, granted to her by her chosen faction, the Future War Cult. The Calling, it was known as. A marksman's weapon, named and sanctified by the leaders of the Future War Cult.

The group silently turned from the sight and continued on their journey, moving down a thin path along a cliff before being faced with large open clearing with two cliffs along either side, a staircase to their left and a sheer drop to their right.

Multiple Hobgoblins patrolled the cliff tops, and Mark took aim with his auto rifle, only to be stopped by Edge. The silent sniper braced his rifle against his left elbow and, peering down the sights, took aim and fired once, twice, three times, each shot dropping a Hobgoblin. This awoke the figurative hornet's nest, and dozens of Goblins swarmed into the courtyard, Slap Rifles raised.

The two Psion Pathfinder teams immediately sprinted for cover alongside the Guardians, Josh opening up with his Hannibal-E machine gun as Mark threw a flashbang grenade. Thalia and Aria, armed with The Calling and The Saterienne Rapier, opened up, each shot dropping another Goblin. A pair of Minotaurs emerged from warpgates on either side of the team, only for the two Colossi accompanying the Guardians to open up on them with their Heavy Slug Guns, tearing them apart in a hail of hot metal.

Purple and red projectiles flew across the clearing, filling the air with death. Alexander leapt into the air, firing his hand cannon one handed and screaming curses, while Korman slid across the ground towards a team of Goblins, eliminating them with quick stabs to the glowing white energy core on their lower torsos. The two hunters fought back to back, Bladedancer and Gunslinger, one an image of roaring fury, the other an avatar of quiet merciless killing.

Kayla and Europa both opened up with rocket launchers, even as Edge dropped another Hobgoblin with Broken Truth. The pair of rockets spiraled through the air, before hammering into the enormous Hydra at the end of the clearing, tearing its metal-plated form asunder as explosions wracked its body.

Mark rolled beneath the punch of a Minotaur, before turning and slamming his fist into the creatures exposed back and breaking the armour plating two. He reached in and grabbed a handful of wires, before tearing them from the machine, pointing Payback SOS into the hole and pulling the trigger. The Minotaur writhed and jittered like a marionette before exploding.

Josh's Hannibal stitched a line of bullets across the line of incoming Vex, the muzzle flash lighting up his roaring face with its flickering yellow light as he bellowed in dual rage and joy. He continued to fire even as Slap Rifle rounds struck his armour, scorching the plating but failing to penetrate. Josh held the weapon in one hand as he drew his brand new Galahad-C auto rifle, firing them at the same time, the recoil not seeming to bother him at all.

Thalia and Aria leapt into the air dually, their eyes flashing purple as a haze of violet light surrounded them, and pulled back their arms. Aria her left, and Thalia her right. An enormous swirling ball of purple and black void energy formed around them, before they both thrust forwards simultaneously, the ball striking the horde of Vex and tearing them asunder. The blast light up the world, and even the ever-helmeted Edge was forced to direct his gaze away from the blinding explosion.

Finally, all that was left of the veritable army of Vex were twisted shards of blackened armour and sparking electric giblets. The handful of Guardians and Cabal stood over the remains, filled with dual pride and excitement. Korman and Alexander returned to their individual fireteams, before the units set off again.

"Do you have any idea where the Psion's went?" Larana asked Edge, who only shrugged in return.

They passed through several corridors before coming upon a dead end. A sheer cliff dropped to the Garden proper, and the Guardians and Cabal stopped dead in their tracks.

"What do we do now?" Josh asked, looking out over the massive realm that stretched out before them.

"Can't you see it?" Aria and Thalia spoke in unison.

All eyes turned to them, and everyone immediately recoiled. The pair of Voidwalkers were floating nearly a foot off the ground, a purple haze surrounding them. Erik turned to Dominion-13, and noticed he was the same way. He too had spoken, but quietly.

"Can't you HEAR it?" The three asked. "We can. It's never ending song, singing to us… it is like a requiem, a requiem for the light."

"What the hell is going on?" Mark asked, pointing Payback SOS at the two sister Warlocks.

"It's voice is so beautiful…" The three Warlocks said. "It IS a requiem, can't you hear it? It is a requiem for a fellow god, who dies as we speak…"

"Are they talking about the Traveller?" Josh asked, noticing that Allisandra, despite being a Warlock, wasn't floating.

Suddenly, Allisandra was on her hands and knees, clutching her head in her hands, palms over her ears.

"I hear it!" She screamed, voice cracking in terror as tears fell down her face. "It is speaking!"

"What is it saying?" Erik demanded, crouching down next to the Sunsinger.

"WE'RE ALL GOING TO DIE HERE!" Allisandra screamed. "WE WILL DIE FORGOTTEN AND ALONE, NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN! IT'S SHADOWS WILL SWALLOW OUR LIGHT, IT'S POWER DEVOUR OUR SOULS!"

The three Voidwalkers were floating closer to the Awoken Sunsinger, hands outstretched. Their necks were limp, their eyes glazed over.

"SURRENDER TO HIM, LIGHT BEARER. SURRENDER OR YOU WILL FALL." They said, their voices monotone and lifeless.

"IT IS SCRAPING AT THE WALLS OF MY MIND!" Allisandra screamed. "IT IS DARKNESS! IT IS DEATH! IT IS-"

The next word was spoken by all four Warlocks.

"THE HEART."

Then all four fell to the ground, the three Voidwalkers unconscious even as Allisandra curled up into a tiny ball and cried, her head clutched to her knees as she wept. Eron took her into his arms, and she buried her head in the crook of his neck.

"It's still there!" She sobbed. "It's not speaking, but it's watching! It's not leaving!"

Eron pulled her closer. "It's okay Allisandra." He said.

"It's not!" She cried. "We're all going to die in here!"

"NO, LITTLE SINGER." Obriok said, grabbing the comparatively tiny girl in his hands. "WE WILL NOT. WE WILL NOT BECAUSE WE ARE STRONGER THAN THIS."

"Creature of Darkness, you do not understand!" Allisandra said, looking up at the enormous Cabal with a tearstained face. "You can't hear it, but I can!"

Obriok stooped until he stood at eye level with the Sunsinger. "I CAN HEAR IT." He said, causing Allisandra's tears to slow. "I CAN HEAR IT, LITTLE SINGER, BECAUSE I ONCE SERVED ITS KIND."

"Obriok, what are you talking about?" Erik asked, one eyebrow raised.

"THE CABAL ONCE SERVED THE DARKNESS." Obriok said. "OUR FORMER LEADER, YOUR PREDECESSOR, VALUS TA'AURC, SPOKE DIRECTLY TO THE HEART. I HEARD IT TOO, FOR I WAS WITH HIM WHEN IT SPOKE. IT PROMISED HIM POWER AND GLORY, AND HE ACCEPTED. THAT WAS HOW HE FELL INTO INSANITY."

"Obriok, why didn't you collapse?" Erik asked, even as the other guardians' body language mimicked the question.

"BECAUSE I KNOW HOW TO RESIST ITS POWER. LITTLE SINGER, KNOW THIS." Obriok said, looking at the petite Warlock. "ITS WORDS ARE MEANINGLESS, ITS ONLY PHYSICAL PRESENCE IS IN THE FORM OF THE VEX."

"So?" Allisandra asked, and Erik was frightened by how fragile the usually confident woman sounded. "They can kill us too!"

"BUT WE CAN KILL THEM." Obriok replied, raising Allisandra to eye level, holding her delicately, like he would a precious stone. "LITTLE SINGER, WHEN WE FIGHT THE HEART, I WILL PROTECT YOU. AS LONG AS I DRAW BREATH, YOU SHALL TOO. I SWEAR THIS UPON KYRON, GOD OF MIGHT."

Erik was stunned at that. To the Colossi, an oath sworn to Kyron was an oath to be honoured to death. Normally, only Cabal Honour Guard took such oaths. In saying that, Obriok was binding his life to Allisandra's. He was essentially promising that she would only die if he did.

Erik told all this to the still sobbing Allisandra, and received the reaction he had hoped for. She looked up at the enormous warrior, eyes clearing and a look of utter shocked joy on her face.

"Th… Thank you, Obriok." She said.

Obriok replied only by nodding, before drawing his weapon and gesturing to the fallen Voidwalkers.

"WHAT ABOUT THEM, _MARCHALL_?" He asked.

"We'll have to leave them here. Josh, could you guard them?" Erik asked, looking at the younger Titan, who nodded.

"Whatever you say boss." He replied, reloading his Hannibal. "There won't be a scratch on 'em by the time you get back."

"Good to hear. Allisandra, would you like to stay here?" Erik asked, dreading her answer. If she stayed, Obriok would have to as well, and a twelve foot tall killing machine would be a great asset.

"N-No, I'll come. I have Obriok to protect me now, and I can hold my own in a fight…" The Sunsinger replied, wiping the tears from her face and grabbing her shotgun.

"Alright then… Abbaric, Sidonis," Erik said, looking at the two Colossi. "Remain here with Josh and protect the Voidwalkers."

"It shall be as you command, _Marchall_." The pair of Colossi replied, hammering their right fist into their chest before turning and taking up ready positions.

"Then let's get going. The pair of _Psykra _teams have already scouted ahead of us, and should be awaiting us at the Heart's sanctuary." Erik finished, and the handful of Guardians set off, ready for the fight of their lives.

**()()()()()**

"By the Traveler, look at that… thing!" Smoke cursed, looking at the enormous floating stone that was the Heart of the Black Garden. "It's bigger than a jumpship!"

"Look at all the Hobgoblins." Mark remarked, pointing at the horde of kneeling machines, their bronze armour seemingly covered in vines. "They must've been like that for a while."

"Definitely." Was Alexander's only statement.

"Well, let's get going. No point in keeping a god waiting." Erik said, before leaping feet first into battle.

He drew his weapon in mid-air, firing the bulky Hand Cannon in a burst of three rounds, blasting apart three Hobgoblins, before throwing his lightning grenade into a cluster of them. Their kneeling forms, which had likely weathered decades of erosion, were torn apart in an instant. The blue energies from the grenade crackled across their skin, tearing them apart.

Mark was next to land, opening up with Payback SOS even as the Hobgoblins awoke. The horde of bronze machines began firing Slap and Line Rifles. The red and purple bolts of energy either missed or glanced off of the pair of Titans armour as they charged into close range.

Alexander, still a hell of a threat even without his squadmates, opened up with his own Hand Cannon, The Chance. Three more Hobgoblin attendants collapsed to the stone floor, their white power cores having been destroyed, even as Obriok himself entered the fray.

The Colossus Grandmaster lived up to his species name, crushing one Hobgoblin underfoot before grabbing two more and throwing them at a cluster of just-awoken Vex, sending all of them flying. Erik heard three cracks of a sniper rifle, and three of the Airborne Hobgoblins were blasted into little pieces. He turned to see Edge reloading while Europa-73 of Fireteam Owl fired her own Epitaph-2261, the pair of snipers wreaking havoc amidst the hordes of enemies.

Korman and Kayla fired their own weapons, the pair of scout rifles blasting limbs off of bronze armoured bodies, before Korman grabbed his shotgun and charged, firing the bulky weapon one-handed while pulling out his knife. He charged into battle, stabbing and slashing.

Erik heard a bellowing sound, and suddenly the Hearts guardian was upon them.

"By the Traveler, here it comes!" He heard Korman yell, before the Gunslinger opened fire on it with The Chance, the bullets merely denting its armour.

The creature turned its massive cannon to him, and Korman leapt to the side even as a purple bolt of energy tore apart the ground he had stood upon. He rolled to a stop and fired The Chance one handed into a Hobgoblins gut before throwing a Swarm Grenade at the enormous Vex creature, the main grenade splitting into its smaller drones that all targeted the bronze giant.

Each detonation took a chunk of armour plating with it, and then Korman made a gamble. He sprinted towards the creature, leaping into the air before channeling his light into a second jump in midair. He landed on where its head would be, before activating his Bladedancer ability. His knife channeled an intense amount of Arc Energy, before he buried it hilt deep in the Sol Progeny's single red eye.

The creature roared in what could be interpreted as pain before falling to its knees, causing the entire area to shake. Korman leapt off the beasts head and rolled upon impact with the ground, coming to a stand surrounded by Vex… WITHOUT his knife.

"Kayla, shotgun!" He called, his fellow Hunter throwing him the firearm before he turned and fired it point blank into the first Vex's chest.

He rolled beneath the return fire, grabbing one Goblin's outstretched arm and pulling it around to take a large blast of purple energy fired by a Minotaur. He used the smaller Vex as a firing platform for his next shot, turning another Goblin's upper half into scrap metal, before pumping and firing repeatedly, blasting Vex after Vex into shrapnel.

Erik spun away from a Minotaur's punch and fired into its cyclopean face, blasting its red eye into shards of glass before turning and emptying his weapons canister into the newest giant opponent's body. The bullets either bounced off or merely dented the creature, and Erik was forced to roll away from a blast of purple energy, before the second shot blasted him into a pillar.

He sat with his back to the pillar, looking up while clutching his smoking chest in one hand, before a loud noise, blinding light and a massive explosion hammered into its chest. The Sol Progeny stumbled back as Obriok shouldered his cannon and charged, ramming shoulder first into its chest and pushing it to the floor. He brought up one fist and slammed it down into the monstrosities face, cracking the bronze armour plating and breaking its eye.

Obriok grasped at the eye and pulled, his massive form straining with the effort as he tore the beasts cortex from its head, ripping it out with a ferocity matched only by the monstrous roar he let out upon success. He held the creatures brain in the air, bellowing his victory to the heavens in the manner of a lion announcing its successful kill.

Erik could only grin weakly before collapsing again, hearing rapid gunfire as Mark gunned down a group of encroaching Vex, before the younger Titan ran to his side.

"You alright, Erik?" He asked, voice filled with concern.

"I'll be alright, once this is over. TFWPKY went flying though. I don't know where it went." Erik replied, before coughing.

"I'll get it, don't worry. Larana!" He yelled, the Bladedancer swirling gracefully out of her melee and sprinting toward the two Titans.

"What is it?" She asked.

"I need you to guard Erik while I get his hand cannon." Mark said, before sprinting away into the Vex horde, pushing them aside with his shoulder. Larana looked down at Erik, who only coughed.

"Great, I get stuck with babysitting duty." She muttered before, without even looking, stabbing a Goblin that got too close.

"Look on the bright side," Erik began, before breaking into a coughing fit. "It'll make my troops like you even more."

Larana only nodded before spinning her knife in her hand and getting into a ready stance as the final Sol Progeny arrived with a bellow.

"Here it comes…" She said beneath her breath.

The newest Sol Progeny made an impression right away, being bigger than its fellows and even more threatening. Three blasts of purple energy flew from its cannon, each shot blasting a crater in the battlefield they fought on. Mark fired at it with Payback SOS, three shots hitting it around its eye, but failing to strike the red orb itself.

"Well shit..." He said, staring at the uninjured Sol Progeny before being forced to retreat by a blast of Void energy.

"Mark, hit it with a flashbang!" Erik heard Allisandra yell, as she blasted a Hobgoblin to pieces with a blast of energy from her palm.

Mark complied, lobbing the purple ball of energy directly into the Sol Progeny's face, before Allisandra followed up with her own solar grenade. The pair of explosives melted the armour around the monsters face, and it bellowed in pain as it was blinded.

Obriok fired at it with his own cannon, sending the beast reeling as the sheer force of the shot blasted it back. The Colossus Grandmaster charged the creature, sprinting full tilt at it, but was blasted back by the Progeny's main cannon. Three more cannon shots struck him in the chest, and Obriok collapsed.

The Sol Progeny turned and bombarded Korman and Kayla with its cannon, sending the two Hunters flying, before it turned its gun on Larana and Erik. Erik heard Mark bellow in rage, and suddenly there was a missile on a direct path towards the Progeny's eye. The Progeny raised an arm, taking the shot on its wrist before casually blasting Mark away with its cannon.

Then Smoke made his move.

The Exo Hunter sprinted over the remains of the battlefield, his dark green cloak fluttering in his wake as he pulled his fusion rifle out. Taking advantage of the Progeny's distraction, he jumped and grabbed its lower left arm, clambering up the limb with as much speed as he could muster. The Progeny didn't even seem to notice him, which was a grave mistake on its part.

Smoke reached the creatures shoulder, before activating his golden gun. That drew the Progeny's attention, but not before Smoke took aim. The Progeny bellowed a metallic cry of pain as Smoke fired twice into the top of its head, before the Hunter jumped off. He flipped in midair, ending up upside down, and fired the last shot into the beast's eye, causing it to cry out its defeat as it collapsed to the ground.

Smoke landed on his feet, and watched impassively as the Progeny disintegrated, before swapping out for his fusion rifle and blasting the Heart, its shield now down.

One shot wasn't enough, and the rest of the warriors present fired with him, pouring bullets and blasts of energy into the Heart until, with heart shaking finality, it exploded. Chunks of the black substance that made up the Hearts body rained down upon the assembled Guardians and Cabal, as they stood in awed silence.

It was finished.

The Heart was dead.

**()()()()()**

"Ugh…" Erik grunted as Mark helped him up, the Titan having handed him TFWPKY 1969. "I'm getting too old for this…"

"Erik, you're barely five years older than I am." Mark said, looking at the Cabal General.

"Technically, I died a hundred years ago." Erik said. "You only died fifty years ago."

"Technicalities." Mark said firmly, before throwing Erik's arm over his shoulder. "Let's get out of here and back to somewhere with more alcohol."

"I concur with that statement." Korman said, walking alongside them. "Say, has anyone seen Alexander?"

"No, he left right after the battle. Said something about wanting to check on Thalia and Aria." Mark replied. "Gotta feel sorry for him, losing his fireteam before the big fight."

"Meh, he managed." Korman said, before walking away. "I need to check on Edge. He got knocked off the cliff and managed to spear himself on one of the rocks."

"Let's get going, Mark." Erik said, as the two Titans jumped up the cliffs back to the place they had arrived through. "I also want to check on… what the hell?"

Erik was looking at Alexander standing over the fallen remains of one of the two Colossi Erik had told to defend the Voidwalkers. The Colossus had three even bullet holes in his head, and Erik quickly searched for the other one, seeing him sitting against the wall with a pair of holes drilled in his chest, blood and Cabal Juice leaking from the holes.

"Erik… Mark… run…" Mark turned and saw Josh propped up agains a rock, helmet missing and three bullet holes in his stomach. Blood leaked from between the Titans fingers as he begged for Erik and Mark to run away.

Erik looked at Alexander, who was merely watching the two impassively, and realized he wasn't staring at Erik… he was staring at TFWPKY 1969.

"Well, Erik, I see you sadly survived, so I guess I'll just have to take that weapon for myself." Alexander said, holding his hands towards the pair of Titans.

"Can it, you murderous bastard." Mark said, pointing his rifle at the Gunslinger.

"Mark, my friend, I'm so sorry you have to be here. I know how fond Thalia is of you." Alexander replied, sounding genuinely sympathetic. "Unfortunately, Erik here has something I want, and you are in the way."

"Wait a sec… you're the one who shot Dublin-46, aren't you!" Erik said, recognition appearing on his face. "The guy who murdered people with Legendary Hand Cannons!"

"Indeed, though I find 'murdered' to be a bit distasteful. I find 'requisition' to sound better." Alexander said.

"Was this seriously your plan?" Mark asked. "Kill everyone and steal their guns?"

"Well, my plans are a bit more refined than that, boy." Alexander started. "You see, I'm doing this for a good reason. I deserve these weapons, far more than anyone could ever kn-"

He was cut off by a single gunshot, a bullet planting itself in his chest. He looked down at the smoking hole in his torso, then back up at Erik, who stood with TFWPKY 1969 pointed directly at him.

"I don't care." Erik said, walking over to the Gunslinger. "I really, REALLY don't care. I don't care about your masterplan, your methods, or your ideals. You murdered my soldiers, shot my friend and betrayed the Traveler. You are lower on my 'care about' list than a piece of shit."

Alexander fell over, hitting the ground with a thud as he looked at the Titan, awe in his eyes. He hadn't even seen Erik draw, let alone shoot.

"So, Alexander, I'm going to kill you now." Erik saw the look of defiance that spread across the traitors features. "And then, when your Ghost comes to revive you, I will shoot it. And then you will stay dead."

And with that, Erik shot Alexander in the head, before swinging his arm up and shooting the Gunslinger's Ghost as it tried to revive him.

Then things went black.

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**Well… that's it. One more chapter to go, in the form of an epilogue, and then King of the Sands is over.**

**See you later!**


	13. Epilogue

King of the Sands

**Epilogue: Remember Me for Centuries**

**Well… you know what, fuck it. If you're just here to see me talk, go to the Authors note at the end of the chapter.**

**Let's go.**

**()()()()()()()()()()**

"_You finally did it." Alice sounded dually happy and disappointed. "You finally killed the Heart."_

"_Why so melancholy?" Erik asked, looking at her with confusion._

"_Because you had to kill someone." Alice said, looking him in the eye. Erik noted her eyes were tearing up. "And because Josh died."_

"_Josh went out how he wanted to. He got to fight someone, died in combat. It was all he wanted." Erik reasoned. "And I don't regret killing Alexander. He had killed Josh, was going to kill Dominion. He was a murderer."_

"_It was still something you shouldn't have had to do!" Alice snapped, voice nearly breaking. "Guardians shouldn't have to kill one another!"_

"_Then why does Jason Booker exist?" Erik asked, taking Alice's cheek and looking into her eyes. "Alice, Guardians are people, and people do shitty things. It's something I accepted ages ago."_

"_But aren't we supposed to be the defenders of the light? How can we do that if we kill each other?" Alice asked._

"_Simple. That's why Jason Booker exists." Erik said. "The 'Travelers Sword' exists purely to stop people like Alexander. I just beat him to it this time."_

"_I… I just… I'm sorry. I'm freaking out over nothing." Alice said, looking down. Erik cupped her chin in one hand._

"_That's why you're so important to me, Alice." He said. "Because you think about things differently than I do."_

"_Erik…" Alice started, but Erik placed a finger to her lips. _

"_Not quite yet. I have a surprise for you." Erik said, before calling out. "Josh!"_

_The Titan appeared in a cloud of white fog and a flash of light, materializing in front of a delighted Erik. She reached towards him, grabbing his hand._

"_You… you absorbed some of his light?" She asked, looking at the Titan._

"_I did. I figured it got lonely in here, and you were always fond of him." Erik said, smiling. "That, and it's your birthday today."_

"_I think my birthday has been overshadowed by the death of the Heart of the Black Garden." Alice said, before gripping Erik in a crushing hug. "You're officially the best boyfriend ever."_

"_I try." Erik said simply, before stopping for a moment. "I've got to go. Josh, Alice, you two catch up, alright?"_

"_You don't have to tell me twice." Josh said, sitting down. _

**()()()()()**

Well. This was… interesting.

It turned a party on the tower meant way more liquor than had any right to exist, and lots of fireworks provided by the Warlocks who gathered in groups of three or more, firing pulses of light into the sky to create a light show worthy of the old 'Fourth of July' celebration.

Guardians and Cabal both were all over the damn place, drinking and carousing and trading tales of heroism and war. Kallus was engaged in an arm wrestle with a pair of Titan, Mark was consoling Thalia and Aria in the way only someone as young as he was could, Dominion and Erik were engaged in a quickdraw competition (with Erik winning handily), and Edge was trying to communicate with a team of Cabal in naught but sign language with Allisandra watching in amusement as the bulky aliens tried to mimic the motions with their stubby fingers, Obriok standing over the 'little singer', looking very protective.

"Well, I say Erik, you did a damn fine job out there!" There was Commander Zavala, clapping Erik on the shoulder. "When you first walked in here a few years ago, I knew you were going places!"

"Thank you, sir." Erik replied, shuffling away from the Awoken Titan, who smelled strongly of alcohol of several variants.

"Oh, don't give me that 'sir' business!" Zavala said, laughing. "You're a general, remember?"

"I suppose you're right, but as long as I'm a Titan, you'll be 'sir' to me." Erik replied, grinning. "Though I suppose I could sic Smoke on you and have your job within the week."

"Oh, anything but that!" Zavala said, mock terror crossing his face before he burst into laughter. "You always were the joker, weren't you?"

"I suppose you could say that, Commander." Erik said, before looking out over the Last City, where similar revelry was taking place on an even larger scale. "I'm sorry about Josh, though. I know you liked him."

Zavala seemed to sober up instantly. "It wasn't your fault." He said, sounding concerned. "Don't beat yourself up over it."

Erik sighed. "I know. I just can't help but feel like, if I had tried harder-" Zavala cut him off.

"Erik, let me tell you a story." Erik looked at the Titan Vanguard, who took a deep breath. "It was towards the end of the Battle of the Twilight Gap, though we had no way of knowing that. I was in my command post. Constant reports were coming in; _'The Fallen have us outnumbered!'_, _'There's a Devil Walker firing on our position!'_, _'The Skiffs won't stop coming!'_. It was chaos, pure and simple. Even as I desperately tried to organize everything, I get a call on my personal com."

"Who was it?" Erik asked, leaning in closer.

"It was my greatest friend, the man I would trust my life with. He told me he was pinned down by a team of Vandal Captains, and was outnumbered and outgunned. He needed help, but at the same time, I received a call from Cayde-6. He told me his Hunter squads had located the Fallen Kell." Zavala looked Erik in the eyes. "I had a choice at that point; help my best friend, or end the war."

"What was your choice?" Erik asked, intrigued.

"I froze for almost a minute. I eventually chose. The needs of the City outweighed even friendship. I abandoned my friend and killed the Kell, forcing a Fallen retreat." Zavala said. "I rushed to where my friends last transmission had come from, but he was gone, the only evidence of his presence being several dead Fallen Captains."

"Who was that friend?" Erik asked.

"I'll give you a hint, you see him every time you come to the Vanguard council room." Zavala said, as realization dawned across Erik's face. "That's right. I abandoned Shaxx, one of my greatest friends. To this day he refuses to forgive me for my betrayal."

"But… but surely he sees what you did was for the greater good of the City?!" Erik said disbelievingly.

"I wish he did, but all Shaxx can think of is how I left him to die that day." Zavala said, his voice filled with regret and shame. "I sometimes wish things could be different, but the past is the past."

"So that's the moral of the story?" Erik asked. "_The past is the past_?"

"No." Zavala said, making eye contact with his former pupil again. "Erik, the moral is that no matter how good you are, how strong or how fast or how brave, there will be a time where you will not be strong or fast or brave enough. That is the time you must accept your failings, and for men like you and I, that is the greatest difficulty we can face."

Erik looked back out over the city, a thousand thoughts running through his head at once, before looking back at Zavala. His eyes were a great deal less burdened, and his heart felt as though a great weight that had been dragging it down had been lifted.

"Thank you, Zavala." He said simply. Zavala nodded in return.

"Remember those words, and you just might make it yet, Guardian."

**()()()()()**

"_How can we be sure he will accept our offer?" _The man asked, looking at the woman with doubt in his eyes. The woman only smiled, a smile promising happiness and pain in equal measure.

"_Simple." _She said, looking the man in those doubting eyes. _"He cannot possibly refuse." _

And cries of pain filled the air as the woman laughed, a delightful yet sickening sound. The man took a moment before joining in, his own cackle mixing with her giggling to form a hellish orchestra of sound. The woman stopped for a moment, looking behind her at the unclothed Guardian, burns covering her skin as the Fallen Vandal dipped his metal rod in the flames again.

"_After all, he'll want to see his woman again."_

**()()()()()()()()()()**

**To be continued…**

**(Probably)**


End file.
